


It’s hard to breathe (but that’s alright)

by orphan_account



Series: The Green Beast [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Murder, Betrayal, Cults, Dark Anakin Skywalker, Dark Magic, False Accusations, Force Choking (Star Wars), Friends to Lovers, Injury Recovery, Interrogation, Kidnapping, Loss of Trust, Multi, Murder Mystery, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Permanent Injury, Prison, Rehabilitation, Rituals, Slow Burn, Temporary Character Death, rexsoka
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:34:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25770670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Rex is forced on the run after being framed for the murder Padmé, with no allies to back him up or help clear his name he's forced to dig deeper into why she was murdered, who has framed him and why.However he may not like what he finds, something much bigger and far more insidious lurks in the shadows and they won't let Rex escape with their secrets so easily.UPDATES!: Updates weekly (hopefully)
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, CC-2224 | Cody & CC-1010 | Fox, CC-2224 | Cody & CC-3636 | Wolffe, CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Plo Koon & CC-3636 | Wolffe, past Ahsoka Tano/Barriss Offee - Relationship
Series: The Green Beast [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1869508
Comments: 37
Kudos: 96





	1. Run Boy, Run

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place about a month after the finale of season 5, I’ve switched the cannon around a little bit. Ahsoka decided to stay with the Jedi temple and proceed with her trials and a few characters are still alive!

Rex stares down at himself in shock, his armor is drenched in blood and it stains the beat-up plastoid a sickly red, he curses himself for slipping on the wet floor when he walked into the apartment a few minutes earlier. He tries to scrape the substance off but it’s already starting to dry making his hands and body a sticky mess, the smell of gore is so strong that it twists his stomach uneasily.

He bends over to throw up.

Padmé lays on the floor with a large pool of her blood under her, her eyes have long gone glassy as she looks out at nothing. Her throat has been slit, however the cut isn’t clean. It’s jagged and rough, as if someone had hacked away at her.

Was it a crime of passion or brutality? He can’t gather the mental strength to debate that detail.

He doesn’t understand how this could happen, who could’ve hated her so much that they would’ve killed her so brutally. She is, or was adored all throughout the Republic, politically she had her enemies but no one who would ever cross the line of murdering a pregnant woman.

Rex takes a deep breath and tries to activate the lights of her apartment, fumbling around in the dark before slamming the switch on. They flicker once and then twice before they come online, a few of them spark ominously and Rex immediately regrets activating the lights. Blood is smeared over almost every single surface of the apartment, as if someone had dragged her bleeding body from room to another to try and make her torment as long as possible.

Why had he come here? He isn’t even supposed to be here (he knows why he’s here).

General Skywalker had asked him to check on his not-so-secret wife as he had been called away to the ceremony of Ahsoka’s Knight trial assignment. The man had been nervous, apparently Padmé had been fearful of something or someone and had needed to tell him something important.

Something that he would never hear, he doesn’t understand why he hasn’t called anyone yet, distantly he knows he’s gone into shock. He tries to wipe the sweat off his face only leave a smear of blood along his cheek and he scowls.

He needs to call the guard, he needs to call Skywalker and Tano so they can find whoever did this before it’s too late. He’s already been standing around here for far too long. If the senator is dead her handmaidens have probably been killed as well, which means more dead bodies to find and put to rest.

He tries to ping Anakin’s commlink but he get’s a busy signal in response, the man is either still at Ahsoka’s trial assignment or he’s currently out of range. Rex sighs angrily and smacks the useless device on his arm as it starts to hiss and crackle from an errant wave of interference. As he curses the faulty piece of equipment a glimmer catches his eye.

A vibroblade sits in between the cushions of a nearby couch, a foreboding feeling sits heavily in his empty stomach but it doesn’t stop him from inching forwards and pulling the blade from the couch.

It’s not a blade he’s ever seen before, crafted like it’s made to be a piece of art but he can still see how wickedly sharp it is. A beast of some kind is engraved in the curved blade and it almost seems to glow green, just looking at it makes him feel sick.

The evil seems to peel off the beast in waves, it penetrates through the thick layer of dried blood that is crusted over the weapon, it leaves Rex’s gloves tacky and foul smelling.

He wants to throw the blade, but it feels like the weapon is glued to his hands as if he’s stuck in it’s hypnosis.

He hears the sound of stomping boots and frantic shouting from down the hall and he knows he should go out to meet whoever is running his way and tell them what has happened.

But he’s glued to the spot, holding the knife over Padme’s dead body no matter how hard he tries to force his body into action, he can’t move an inch.

A chill runs through his body as the commotion gets louder and louder like the high pitched whining of a missile before it hits the target.

_They’ll never believe you, murderer_

A voice whispers into his ear and he jerks away from the words, he knows he didn’t kill her, he didn’t! Why would he? He just has to explain what’s happened and they can hunt down whoever did this.

They’ll understand, they have to.

A second later the doors burst off their hinges and dust fills the apartment, the door itself crashes into the wall just an inch to Rex’s left and he feels a heart-twisting nervousness fill his body. A Jedi wouldn’t have put him in danger on purpose like that, the way the door was almost flung into him was used as an intimidation tactic, he’s seen it plenty of times before.

Rex takes a step back from the door, the blade burns in his hand and he throws it at the couch, impaling the rich fabric and ruining the cushion.

Shock troopers rush in led by Fox and Rex is relieved, he’s a little stiff for a vode but still an honourable man and a good commander. Padmé will find justice with Fox leading the case and then maybe he’ll be able to sleep a little better at night knowing his friend will be able to pass properly.

He's a little confused as the men continue to pour in, obviously they don’t need so many men at the apartment when the killer has already escaped into the city. Wolffe soon marches in with Cody at his heel.

Usually his first reaction at seeing his brothers would cure any anxiety. Only this time, seeing them with their fingers on the trigger of their pistols sends him back on the same roller coaster of anxiety and confusion that’s plagued him for the last hour.

“Cody-” Rex starts until his beloved brother levels his head with the sight of his rifle, he stares at him and slowly raises his hands in a hesitant surrender.

“Stay where you are Captain.” Obi-Wan orders sternly as he walks in, his blue lightsaber isn’t ignited but he can see the way his hand tenses as if he’s ready to grab and ignite it at any moment.

“General Kenobi I can explain-” Rex says desperately as his eyes dart to each of his brothers and then to the Jedi.

“That won’t be necessary Captain, Commander Fox please handcuff the soldier and have him detained.” Obi-wan says without a hint emotion, even as the man has a perfectly neutral mask in place Rex can see the subtle hints of rage and sorrow in the lines of his face.

“Why? Senator Amidala’s killer is still out there! We have to hurry or he’ll escape on the next ship off the planet.” Rex demands as Fox approaches him slowly, he still has his pistols still raised at Rex’s head.

“Clone trooper 7567 you are being placed under arrest for the murder of Senator Padme Amidala. Anything you say now can and will be used against you in the court of law.” Fox says icily and Rex jumps back from him on instinct, his eyes dart to the blade sticking out of the couch.

The sounds of blasters being cocked let’s him know that everyone in the room saw him look at the knife.

“I don’t understand, I didn’t kill her! General Skywalker sent me here to check on her and I found her in this state.” Rex protests as he steps back again, creating more space between him and Fox as he looks frantically to each of the faceless brothers that point blasters at him.

“Don’t do it Rex, come quietly and you’ll get a fair trial.” Cody says stonily and Rex flinches at his tone.

“Why don’t any of you believe me?!” Rex shouts desperately as Fox grabs his upper arm, he strips him of his twin pistols and the knife strapped to his belt, carelessly tossing them out of reach like he’s some violent criminal.

He winces as they clatter across the floor, he worked hard on those weapons, the mean something to him.

 _“WHERE IS HE?!”_ Anakin shouts as he shoves past the _SHOCK_ troopers who stumble away in surprise at the rough treatment.

Rex pales as he feels his heart stutter in his chest as Anakin storms into the room with his lightsaber ignited, while Ahsoka trails in after him stone-faced and with hurt in the depths of her eyes.

Obi-Wan tries to grab onto Anakin’s arm to hold him from entering the apartment but his former apprentice shakes him off violently. If he squints, he can see a ribbon of red flash through the normally bright blue lightsaber and his entire body screams danger as his muscles lock together in fear.

He knows the moment Anakin sees his wife’s dead body on the floor with Rex standing in a pool of her blood and his armor stained red. He tries to open his mouth to explain but his vocal cords are frozen solid in fear at the look of pure hatred Anakin pins him with, he knows whatever explanation he could give Anakin wouldn’t believe him.

There is something he’s missing, they know something that he doesn’t that makes them so sure that he killed Padmé.

He can admit it doesn’t look the best but he’s no killer, he thought that they would know and trust him enough to believe him when he says he hasn’t committed the crime. The sudden stony silence and reluctance to let him explain hurts more than a blaster bolt to the chest.

The room feels like it’s dropped below freezing and he can feel how he trembles in Fox’s iron grip, it would be almost better for his sanity if Anakin were to rage and destroy things rather than stay deathly silent. The panic that has been making his heart stutter trips in a rapid staccato as Anakin stalks forward with his lethal blue blade with it’s red ribbon.

Rex seen and held the weapon enough times to know the Jedi don’t use their blades as weapons of destruction, however the way Anakin holds it is far to reminiscent of the way Krell would hold his blades before slicing his men to pieces.

“General-” Rex chokes but saying anything had been the wrong idea, as once the words are out of his mouth, the man’s eyes flood with a sickly yellow that completely blocks out the vibrant blue of his eyes.

“ _Silence! You don’t deserve to speak_.” Anakin shouts and Rex flinches as the objects in the apartment shake ominously.

_“Anakin…” “Master…”_

He can hear the concern from the two Jedi as Anakin walks to stand in front of Rex with his lightsaber purposefully pointed at the hollow of his throat.

“ _You will die, painfully and slowly for what you have done CT-7567 and I will see to it personally._ ” Anakin hisses as he inches the blazing tip of his blade close enough to Rex’s Adam’s apple that he can feel it start to burn his skin.

He yanks on his arm to try and loosen Fox’s grip to get away from Anakin’s rage induced state but his brother’s grip doesn’t budge.

Quicker than he can blink Anakin rips the blade from the couch and plunges it into his chest just below his collar bone. Before the pain even registers, Anakin picks him up off the ground and slams his body against the glass of the apartment windows with the force. They crack ominously under the pressure of the force as he struggles to clear his vision, his mind reels as it tries to catch up with the current events.

“Anakin stop!” Obi-Wan says a second too late as he feels the glass crack and give away in a heart stopping moment. Gravity catches up with his body and he falls from out of the apartment into the open night air with a million shards of glass.

Time seems to slow as he watches as Anakin smugly shove his hands into the sleeves of his robe and slowly turns away before his mind catches up to his too-fast plummet to the ground blow him. The city lights blur together as he continues to drop with nothing to break his fall as the ground gets closer and closer.

Forcing his mind to think through the panic and pain, he rips his grappling hook from his belt and activates the magnetized hook. He throws it into the traffic that fills the sky and hopes for it to catch onto something.

He realizes distantly through the panic that’s he’s gained an audience, horrified onlookers watch as he falls from the streets and buildings that surrounded the Senate apartments. His body jerks painfully against the force of gravity and he lets out a pained gasp as his hook grabs onto a large transport vessel, it doesn’t even jerk or falter as Rex’s weight strains the cable.

Several vehicles honk and pass him in the opposite direction as he struggles to pull himself up the cable but he manages it and he gracelessly pulls himself onto the roof of the transport. Rex takes a breath to try and calm his pounding heart before he grabs the handle embedded in his armor and yanks the blade out of his chest.

He swallows the yelp that tries to crawl out of his throat as the blade catches painfully on his skin and muscles on the way out of his body.

He’s tempted to throw the blade away but something in his mind tells him to hold onto it, so he does even if he doesn’t know why.

He needs to ditch his armor, they’ll be looking for him once they’ve realized that he isn’t goop at the bottom of the building. He’s a wanted a man now, he now knows how Ahsoka felt after the bombing and she too was chased down like a criminal.

However, he also feels like no one will swing in last minute to confess to the crime and save his honour.

It won’t be long until his face is plastered all over the planet, he won’t be able to escape once that happens. It will be a miracle is he escapes now, there’s a high chance that Fox has already put in the order to lock down all space ports.

He has no allies, no backup and no weapons other than the knife that sits heavily on his belt. With no clear plan Rex stresses over his options, if doesn’t get rid of his blood-stained armor soon people will start to ask questions.

He also needs to clear his name but that seems like an impossible task, he sighs heavily as his body aches and complains against the rough treatment and he begs for it to hold on for just a little longer. The transport vessel dips lower and lower into the under city and the night becomes more neon lights and gasoline than stars and fresh air.

The rusty transport stops with a concerning shudder at an empty lot, Rex watches as the workers leave for the night without a second glance back and he slips off the roof quietly. Only to land harshly as his abused body lands clumsily on the rough concrete.

He slinks towards the warehouse hoping that it will have something he can change into.

He ducks his head as he sees the flash of a dingy holo-projector that displays his face and CT designation asking anyone that if they see him to report him to the nearest authorities. Rex breaks into the warehouse without a second look back, he can’t focus too hard on the fact that reality is crumbling around him.

The warehouse holds steel beams and other construction equipment, not much in way of clothing or food. He slides along the different towering storage containers opening different boxes and creates until he comes across an employee locker room. After a short minute of testing and searching the lockers he pulls out a dull purple company jumpsuit and a cloak that a worker had left behind.

It’s just big enough to cover his face when he pulls the hood over his head.

If his mug shot is already plastered over the holo-news then it won’t be long before bounty hunters on the planet come after him. He heard as much from Ahsoka when she had opened up about her experience being on the run.

It was still a surprise to see her with the troops practicing drills after a few days away to recover after Barriss had confessed to the crimes. Rex knows that if he were in her position, he isn’t sure that he would be able to stay but he’s still overjoyed that she did.

As he packs up the last of his beloved armor in some forgotten box at the back of the staff room, he quickly searches for the nearest space port on the open nearby terminal. Staying on Coruscant isn’t a viable option any more, some space needs to be put between him and the Republic, he needs the breathing room to prove that he isn’t guilty and find who is.

Though Rex feels like Anakin will never believe him, the man in the apartment building wasn’t the General that he had followed for years and trusted with his life. It was someone twisted and torn apart by grief and slapped back together with rage but the pieces were all distorted and didn’t fit together properly, creating a tortured monster.

Rex pulls the curved blade off his belt and looks at its glowing green beast, somehow he knows that it would help bring whoever killed Padmé to justice, then maybe she could finally be at peace.

Suddenly a stray thought hits him, his ID chip. All clones had one and if he doesn’t ditch it too, they’ll be able to track him wherever he went. He’s a fool for not removing it sooner.

Clenching his teeth, he digs the blade into his skin and tries to blink the dark spots in his vision away as he scrapes the chip off his ulna where it’s currently embedded.

As much as he wants to stop to breath, if he stops picking at it now they’ll be alerted to the fact that he’s tried to remove. Then he’ll have the entire Coruscant Guard at his doorstep before he even has a chance to escape.

He grist his teeth and digs in harder with the blade until he here a crack.

Rex pulls the blade out with a sigh of relief as the chip comes out at the tip of the knife and he crushes it under his boot. It’s one less problem to worry about, he shoddily bandages his wrist with the same piss-pour bacta patch that he slapped against his chest. The wounds still bleed sluggishly turning the patches red and his chest may need stitches in the best-case scenario but he’ll have to worry about those things later.

His stomach growls at him but he doesn’t feel hungry, either way he doesn’t have to time to think about food either. He’ll find something eventually but right now the shipyards are his only goal, he slips back into the dingy streets and the oppressive darkness of the lower levels of Coruscant.

As Rex walks along the empty streets he sees his new wanted poster, walking up to the projection he reads the text of his own crime numbly.

 _Clone Captain 7567 colloquially knows as ‘Rex’ is wanted for the murder of Senator Padmé Amidala and for the double feticide of her unborn children. Suspect is armed and dangerous if sighted report to the nearest police division or shock trooper immediately_.

He didn’t know that she was pregnant with _twins._

Reading the crimes out loud really makes him seem like a monster. The report is probably like ringing the dinner bell for every sentient on the planet looking for a hefty some for credits. There’s no telling who will come after him so he needs to move like his life depends on it, because truly, getting off the planet is a matter of life or death for him.

* * *

Ahsoka grips the bucket harder and she presses her forehead to it’s rim as she sits outside Padmé’s apartment. Her training bond with Anakin is dead silent and it adds to the nausea that floods her body. She doesn’t know what to think, she’s pulled in so many different directions it feels as if her head may explode.

After Anakin had thrown Rex out the window he had turned to her with a sick glee in his yellow eyes, as if excited to see Rex dead on the walkway far below them. Everything about him had felt wrong, dark and clawing filled with nothing but rage and hate. Deeper she had felt the anguish of that little Tatooine boy crying out for Padmé and the family they will never have, the little boy that she knows he tries to keep buried and pretends that he didn’t haunt his nightmares.

Before she could say anything Obi-Wan strode forwards and had touched Anakin’s temples with one swift motion and her master had crumpled to the ground, force sleep he had said. Anakin needed to be brought to the halls of healing before he hurt himself or anyone else.

Obi-Wan left after sharing a few words with Cody, he hasn’t returned since.

Fox had reported that Rex’s body wasn’t at the bottom of the apartments in a pile of goo which means he has escaped and is somewhere on the planet. The whole hunt being far to close to how she was chased through the city after Barriss had bombed the temple and the memories only added more anxiety to the night.

The woman who had been a dear friend to her as a young girl and as a young woman is dead along with her unborn twins. Which drags her thoughts back to Rex, her brother. A man who had fought in countless battles with her and had been with her faithfully for the most important times in her life both the good and the bad, had been filmed brutally attacking the senator and had been caught red handed with knife in hand in at the aftermath.

She desperately wants to think he isn’t capable of such a heinous crime, he hadn’t been able o kill Krell who deserved the most painful of deaths for his treason. She can’t picture him killing Padmé, not in her wildest dreams.

“Hey Commander. How are you feeling?” Cody asks softly as he kneels down in front of her, his bucket is off and she can see the deep horror etched into the lines of his face. They twist his facial scar and it makes it seem like it’s crawling across his face, slowly eating his identity.

“I think I’m going to be okay.” She mumbles softly as she looks down at the bucket.

“It’s okay if you’re not going to be, me and the men can handle the investigation from here if you want to go back to the Temple and check on the Generals.” Cody says simply and Ahsoka gives him a small smile but she knows it looks more like a grimace that anything else.

“No, I’ll stay. Master Kenobi assigned me as the overseeing Jedi until he get’s Master Skywalker settled, we can’t miss a single detail.” She says and the Marshal Commander nods and stands, it looks like he debates with himself for a second before he sticks his hand for Ahsoka to take and she grasps it gratefully.

“Cody…Do you think that Rex did it? Do you think he killed the Senator?” Ahsoka asks haltingly and she can see the way he stiffens next to her.

“I don’t want to believe it but the video footage that we received is pretty incriminating, but we need to investigate further so the Senator and her children can have justice.” He responds with a mournfully tone.

The mention of her dead babies makes Ahsoka feel sick all over again and she sits down at the desk and activates the terminal to distract herself. She knows that the babies are, or were Anakin’s, his marriage had been an open secret within the 501st and 212th. The running joke among the men was that you couldn’t get your official paint if you didn’t figure out that they were married within your first week of joining the battalion.

She smiles softly at the memory and she wishes desperately that it things would just go back to normal. However, she knows they can’t. Reality has been unchangeably altered for the rest of their lives and there is nothing she can do about it.

She sighs and scrolls through the Senators files and case works, different bills and proposals float past the screen. She robotically searches through each email and each document until the monotony of it all threatens to burn her eyes out. How the Senator could stand doing this for hours while heavily pregnant amazed Ahsoka, she could barely stand an hour of it.

She blinks her eyes at the chrono, the time hadn’t lied. She has been sitting in the same spot for the past hour as the clones meticulous scrub the apartment for details and evidence.

Rex is still out there and knowing how crafty he is, there is a high chance that he has already left the planet to escape into the deep recesses of wild space as a wanted man, never to be found again. On the other hand, she also knows her Master and the tangled relationship he has with his anger and revenge. Ahsoka knows he will go to then ends of time itself on an endless game of cat and mouse to capture Rex and exact his revenge no matter the cost, even if the cost is his own sanity.

She sighs, she knows the Council believes she’s ready to start her trials but she didn’t expect the murder of her closest friend to be the starting point. Master Yoda had said that they would be the most difficult times of her Jedi training and he hadn’t been wrong. She just wishes that Obi-Wan and Anakin were here as well so she can ask if she’s doing the right thing.

She flips back to the terminal and opens what feels like the 500th correspondence email until what she sees makes her freeze in confusion.

There’s no actual message and the sender’s information is heavily encrypted which already makes her deeply suspicious. What unnerves her the most is the symbol that the email contains, it looks old and cryptic, even somewhat haunted if she truly admits her feelings.

“Cody, do you recognize this symbol?” Ahsoka asks and he slides up behind her, placing a hand on the desk to lean in over her shoulder.

“Nothing I’ve ever seen before Commander, we can extract the data and send it through the Temple and GAR databases to see if anything will come up but that might take a while, do you think it might be something?” He asks curiously looking over at her.

“Maybe, it might also be nothing but I just though that it was strange that this was in the Senator’s emails, you can’t trace the sender and there’s no message so I just have a bad gut feeling about it.” Ahsoka admits.

“Even if it’s nothing important right now we may need in the future. Hold onto and believe your gut instincts kid, in my experience they’re usually right 90% of the time and we can’t afford to overlook things when the stakes are so high.” Cody says as he stands back up to return to whatever he was doing before she called him over.

Ahsoka nods and saves the data before diving back into the documents, there are still several hundred more to cover and like Cody said they couldn’t afford to over look even the tinniest details this time.


	2. Two Fingers Deep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know I get ideas for specific points in the story and then I have to fill in the plot because I am incapable of being patient even with my own stories :///

Obi-Wan scrubs his face tiredly as he paces the halls of the Temple.

It has been a few hours since everything collapsed in itself and the anxiety and adrenalin still pumps through his veins like the whole catastrophe only happened a few seconds ago.All throughout his life genuine fear and heartbreak have only come together in such a cutting combo so sharp and vicious like a blade plunging into his chest, three distinct times.

The first time was when he held a dying Qui-Gon Jinn in his arms, and the reality of training a young slave boy that wanted nothing to do with him now sat on his shoulders.

The second time was when they had finally managed to break into the fortress holding Cody during the first few months of the war, only to find him on his deathbed bed hanging limply by chains in his cell, not knowing his dear Commander would make it.

The third time that still cuts deeply, is remembering how Maul ruthlessly impaled Satine on the Dark saber, watching as she reached out for him as the life drained out of her and him being helpless to do anything other than hold her and listen to her dying confessions. Which only made it more heartbreaking as he was dragged away from her body, it hurts more than he can say knowing that she never got a proper grave.

However, seeing his former padawan fall and embrace the darkside so quickly the moment he had stepped into that apartment had been one of the most terrifying moments of his life. The sight of Anakin’s eyes stained that awful sickly yellow will probably haunt him for the rest of his days.

He knows the young man struggled with his own darkness and he was wrong in thinking it wasn’t all consuming. However, he never thought the murder of the Senator would cause him to spiral so deeply that he would gleefully throw Rex out of the window and revel in his painful death.

Rex and he had protected each other for years through each battle fought and they had a special brotherly bond. A rare type of closeness between the pair created by the constant threat of death, Obi-Wan sometimes suspects that Anakin confided in the blonde captain more than he did his old master on most days.

The reaction seems overblown for what was just a close friendship but Obi-Wan has always suspected, no, he’s known that there was something more between the two of them. Once his former apprentice wakes from his force-induced coma than maybe the man himself can confirm or deny his suspicious, Obi-Wan isn’t sure if the answer would make him feel any better.

On the one hand if he and the Senator were married it would mean an immediate expulsion from the Order for carrying out an illegal marriage. It would mean sending Anakin adrift into the galaxy with nothing but his darkness and anger that would cause nothing but pain and destruction.

If they weren’t married there’s no telling if Anakin would stay with the Order. There is an endless abyss that has been wedged between him and the Council after the disaster that was Ahsoka’s trial and the man will want a vengeance the Order will never condone. It wouldn’t be that far of a stretch to say that Anakin has lost all faith in the Order and if they wouldn’t help him with his revenge then he would abandon them completely. Which also leaves him adrift in the galaxy with nothing but his rage and pain.

Obi-Wan realizes that he finally has reached a fork in the road where neither path has a positive outcome, where either path could mean losing his brother to the darkness for the last time.

Obi-Wan sits down heavily onto the floor outside the halls of healing and despairs at the hand of card the force has dealt them.

Vokara Che may be a Master healer but he doubts the she will be able to pull Anakin out of the coma that has claimed him with all the pieces or have the ability to untangle the darkness that has claimed his mind.

They would need a miracle to save him and Obi-Wan knows they have used-up their store of miracles while fighting the war.

If Ahsoka and he cannot pull him from the darkness with Padmé and her children dead then Obi-Wan knows that he will be lost forever.

The very thought makes tears gather in his eyes.

“Obi-Wan?” Cody asks as he approaches slowly, he startles slightly at being caught crying with his face in his hands like a youngling.

“Cody, I thought you would still be at the apartment with Ahsoka, has something changed?” Obi-Wan asks as he turns his head away to wipe at his eyes before facing the man.

“Ahsoka is with Boil and Waxer, she found a suspicious email and I came to deliver a copy to the archives for an analysis, I also wanted to check on you.” Cody says as he looks down at Obi-Wan.

“I can assure you I’m fine, just tired is all.” Obi-Wan says trying to brush off the concern.

“So, do you always curl up on the floor in dark hallways choking on your sadness.” Cody asks sarcastically and Obi-Wan puts his hand out pleadingly.

“Please Cody, not now. There are bigger things to worry about.” He says sternly with a hard frown, he turns his head away in shame at the sharp tone he directed at his partner. There is no purpose in taking out his frustrations on the man that had been nothing but loving to him in the months after Satine’s murder.

“I’m sorry…” He mumbles ashamedly.

“Obi-Wan, please don’t shut me out. I know this can’t be easy on you, but you have to take care of yourself. Commander Tano is a great Jedi but her best friend was just accused of killing the wife of her Master, she’s still painfully young to handle such a burden like this and we can’t do it without you.” Cody pleads as he cups Ob-Wan’s jaw and tilts his head to look him his eyes.

“So, Anakin was married to Senator Amidala?” Obi-Wan asks weakly, feeling drained and uncoordinated.

“We found an official marriage certificate through the GAR database a month into the war, Rex was trying to settle a bet.” Cody laughs humourlessly with a sad shake of his head and Obi-Wan instantly feels guilty.

He hasn’t spared a moment to think about the others affected during his panic surrounding Anakin.

“Cody I’m-” Obi-Wan starts to say but only stops when Cody runs his thumb along his bottom lip.

“You don’t need to apologise, you don’t have to take on everyone’s burdens. We’ll catch-up to Rex and sort everything out, we’ll have time to mourn later. My heart aches for my baby brother, I don’t know what to believe but I know doubts won’t help him or us and I know the longer we wait the more attention we’ll get. I refuse to let Tarkin butt his nose in our business, he’d have Rex killed rather than listen and then we will never know what truly happened.” Cody says mournfully but Obi-Wan can see the way he sub-consciously clenches his fist when he mentions the underfed shark in a suit, he can’t blame Cody for his anger in the slightest.

“We will solve this without the interference of Tarkin and his lackies, I will ensure it.” Obi-Wan promises and Cody smiles softly and offers his hand to Obi-Wan who clasps it firmly as he is heaved off the ground to his feet.

“Thank you, Obi-Wan…” Cody mumbles as he brings the Jedi closer. The rays of white light that filter in from the night sky through the many windows that line the Temple walls make Cody’s armor seem to glow. As if he’s a warrior from another galaxy sent to sweep Obi-Wan off his feet and off to a world where nothing hurts and the strain of war is only a long forgotten memory.

“You have nothing to thank me for my love, you are worth my every breath.” He says and he can see the apprehensive expression slide off Cody’s face, he leans in to kiss Obi-Wan deeply and for a moment in the dark of the Temple only they mattered.

“I love you.” Cody whispers with their faces inches apart and Obi-Wan smiles as he admires the soft amber of Cody’s eyes.

“I know and I wouldn’t forsake it for the world.” Obi-Wan replies before reluctantly drawing away from Cody’s embrace.

“Do you think Master Nu will be able to help us search for the symbol Ahsoka found in the email at this hour?” Cody asks curiously as hands Obi-Wan the datapad he brought to the Temple.

“It’s not overly late, she should be able to put us on the right path.” Obi-Wan says with a nod of his head as they head to the Jedi archives.

The anxiety surrounding Anakin is still present but with Cody walking beside him without a hair out of place makes him feel more grounded.

It feels as if they have a direction and lead to follow in what is becoming and bigger and tangled mess with every passing second.

As they walk down the hallways in a comfortable silence Cody’s commlink suddenly goes off with a musical beep and he lifts his arm to speak into it.

“Wolffe, did you find him?” He asks immediately and Obi-Wan wonders how Cody knew it was Wolffe before even picking up the call.

Then the realization hits him, Cody has programmed specific call-signs for different brothers and he has to bite his cheek to keep himself from crooning at the quirk his commander has adopted.

“No, he’s still planet-side, he hasn’t been spotted at the ports yet but we have found his armor in a lower level warehouse. However, we do believe a group may be following him as well, we don’t know their intentions or what their involvement in the situation is.” Wolffe says and Obi-Wan can hear his frustration.

“Keep me updated vod, General Kenobi and I are at the Temple researching what Commander Tano found, if we find anything we’ll report in.” Cody says worriedly.

“Good luck, Wolffe out.” The other commander cuts the connections and Cody frowns down at the commlink.

“What’s wrong?” Obi-Wan asks

“Who could be following Rex other than Wolffe and Fox?” Cody asks as he scrubs his stubbly jaw.

Obi-Wan doesn’t have an answer.

* * *

Rex licks his lips to try and wet the dry skin as he tries to calm his pounding heart with mouthfuls of dingy air, his injuries ache in tandem and his stomach claws at itself in hunger. Troops of SHOCK and 104th men run through the streets with their weapons at the ready, sending any civilian in their way careening to the side of the walkway in order to dodge their immovable force.

He's hidden for the moment in a tiny gap between a strip club and bar but it’s only a matter of time before they find him, if they find him now it would be near impossible to lose them with so many men chasing him.

He’s surprised he hasn’t been executed yet, he is a clone. If he became defective than he can be easily disposed of and replaced, it makes sense to think the Jedi are still running the investigation which is probably why he is still breathing.

He feels a pang of guilt for drawing out the chase for so long which he knows will only get longer the moment he leaves the planet until he fades out of relevance. Which he knows will happen eventually, there’s a war to fight and bigger problems will arise and he can live out his life as a passing thought.

While it sounds like a lonely existence and he there’s a lot he hasn’t told Ahsoka yet on her way to adulthood but he knows it’s for the best, to disappear and solve what happened to Padmé on his own.

He’s been framed, he’s sure of it and he doesn’t have time for people to start doubting what he knows to be true.

It will only make himself second guess his own sanity and that’s the last thing he needs.

Rex peaks around the corner and looks both ways and then looks again before slipping onto the main walkway. He knows he’s at least 25 levels below the emergent level and if the cracked holo-map he saw is still accurate the fastest way to the ports is on level 5 and then to head west for 5 klicks.

The lifts are visible from just down the street and if he makes it, he’ll have a few more minutes to think about his next move, does he steal a ship or sneak aboard one? Both are equally risky but he needs to get there before the sun rises and he knows that he only has so many hours left, stealing a ship or stowing away will be much easier and less obvious in the dark.

Rex keeps his head bowed as he swiftly weaves in out of the foot traffic of the pathway, he knows it is end of the planet’s work week so he hopes the larger amount of people will hide him better. However,it’s another risk he takes since he has a higher chance of some random civilian recognizing and reporting him.

He's acting like Skywalker with all the risks he’s taking, thinking of the General makes his chest contract uncomfortably. Right, the man wants to kill him and make him suffer for supposedly killing his wife.

Any camaraderie or relationship they had before has been completely destroyed and Rex knows he doesn’t have time to mourn for what was and running will only make things worse, running will be his confession of guilt to many.

He knows he’s far from done when it comes to ruining any meaningful connection he’s ever had.

Someone bumps him roughly and it jars him out of the spiraling thoughts and knock his hood back so that his face is visible. The Togruta growls at him and spits at his boot before shrugging his shoulders and shoving his way through the crowd.

Rex let’s out a breath, the man hadn’t recognized him but that doesn’t mean he won’t, it cuts time off his waning minutes, he can’t panic about the accidental encounter just yet.

Getting to the lifts takes him longer than he likes but eventually he makes it, the air is thick with the smell of fuel and exhaust that comes from the vents sending unwanted fumes to lower levels to keep the pristine image of the upper levels.

It makes Rex feel dirty and so unlike himself, he tries not to breath in the concoction of fumes too deeply as he shoves his way onto the lift. Luckily only a couple far too infatuated with each other to acknowledge him are the only other occupants. Rex just hopes they don’t get to curious about him, they have at least 2 minutes and 25 seconds to spend with each other until he can get off.

When he starts to hearing moaning from the far corner he’s almost hopes that the GAR does find him so that he can escape whatever is happening behind him, he doesn’t risk looking back as he’s not in the mood to see the man two fingers deep in his partner.

While it sounds like she is enthused by his attention with the way she moans and mewls, it feels as if he’s in one of those many adult-holos he has the unfortunate job to confiscate every once in a while. Rex tries to inch himself further away even as he’s pressed to the glass window, however his own distraction and misery would be his own undoing as the doors slide open on the 5th level.

The woman shrieks in surprise as several clones aim their blasters at Rex and he swears viciously to himself as Wolffe’s aim doesn’t waver from his head. He just hopes his vod has the decency to have his pistols put to stun.

He’d rather not have his brains splattered on the inside of a lift and not have his dead body gawked at anymore than usual.

“Hello Captain, fancy meeting you here. You’ve got a lot of people looking for you.” Wolffe says and Rex winces as Comet and Boost walk up to him, yanking his hood off and man handle him into binders. The metal cuffs are secured tightly behind his back and his arm throbs as blood seeps through the sleeve of his stolen jumpsuit.

“Wolffe, please vod. You have to let me explain.” Rex pleads as Comet rips the blade off his belt and hands the weapon to Wolffe who inspects it closely.

“The video showing you killing Senator Amidala explains enough, murderer.” He says coldly and beckons Comet and Boost to drag him out of the lift.

“The what?” Rex asks incredulously as he drags his heels, he may have gotten caught him but it doesn’t mean he’s going to make it any easier to get drag him away.

“Don’t play dumb Rex, it doesn’t suit you. Say your prayer to Jango’s bones and accept your guilt, we have proof you committed the crime.” He says and they march to the SHOCK troop transports as onlookers gawk at the commotion.

“You have to believe me! I’m being framed, I didn’t do anything!” Rex says straining against his handcuffs and Boost shakes him roughly, he bites his cheek to keep the groan of pain silent as his shoulders throb warningly.

“Like we haven’t heard that before, we weren’t decanted yesterday vod. I know a guilty clone when I see one. It was only a matter of time before you snapped after Kadavo right? That’s why you did it? You needed someone else to suffer like you have?” Boosts says icily and Wolffe holds out his hand and the scarred clone falls into silence.

“What is done is done, contact Fox and the Council to let them know that we have Captain Rex in custody.” He says gruffly.

He motions the pilot to start up the engines and Rex feels the dread knowing the moment the transport takes off his fate is written in stone, he’ll never live long enough to know what truly happened and why he is being framed.

As they drag him onto the platform a high-pitched whine rips through the air and the unmistakable smell of burning ozone and fuel streaks through the sky as a rocket grenade collides with the transport, causing it to crash back into the ground in a ball of flames. Several shouts of alarm ring through the air as Rex and the other clones are thrown off their feet by the explosion, he already knows the pilot is dead with how the cockpit is a mass of flames.

“Get to cover now!” Wolffe bellows and the men scramble for cover as Rex tries to get up with his hands still bound behind him. He needs to get into cover, he’s far to vulnerable and this is no random attack.

Another rocket grenade is launched at the flaming transport causing the second explosion to tip it off the railing and fall to the depths of Coruscant.

“Ridge!” He hears one of them shout in despair.

Just as he gets his knees under him and shakes off the the dizziness caused by the explosion a heavy boot slams his chest back down onto the filthy platform, the impact knocks his unprotected head ajar.

He squirms and bucks his body fruitlessly as the boot remain unwavering, he can’t see who is stepping on him through the smoke and chaos of the street. The mysterious figure leans down and grabs his binders and Rex shouts in alarm as panic controls his actions.

While he doesn’t want to remain in GAR custody he knows it’s better than being a bounty hunter’s prisoner. They will sell him off to anyone who can afford the highest bidding price, he knows clones sell high on the slave market in the outer rim and wild space.

A voice shushes him roughly as they snap his binders off and he immediately tries to push himself off the ground only to have the green blade stabbed into the walkway between in fingers, barely a millimetre away from cutting off several of his fingers and he hisses in shock.

“Our mission has been accomplished, the kod’yok has been freed. Vanya kill the others and join us later, the Council will want our report.” The woman standing on him says.

Another woman cloaked all in black drags a struggling Wolffe by the collar of his undersuit through the flaming street, Rex can hear him cursing at the woman as he’s thrown a few meters away from Rex.

He watches in horror as the woman lines the sight of the blaster to Wolffe’s head, his bionic eyes sparks worryingly and looks barely conscious, the other man are no where to be seen and Rex assumes to worst with a sinking despair.

“Don’t hurt him!” Rex shouts as the woman cocks her blaster but pauses and tilts her head as Rex glares at her.

The faceless woman stares at him for what feels like the lonest time until she tilts her head back and laughs with a haunting ferocity.

“Even after he was going to drag you to your death you still want to protect this little clone and his men?” She asks as she strokes a clawed hand through Wolffe’s bloody hair.

“Yes, now leave him.” Rex hisses as he grabs the hilt of the engraved knife that now seems to haunt his life.

“Mother was right in choosing this little kod’yok, he has far too much conviction for his own good, he will serve us well.” The woman-Vanya says and if Rex could see her face he knows she would have a wicked grin.

“Mother is often right her selections.” The other woman replies dully, she picks Rex up by his cloak and shoves him roughly in the opposite direction of the flaming destruction, he stumbles to catch himself as his body throbs in agony.

“Run along little kod’yok, they will be after you again and you have a ship to catch before the Chosen one awakens.” Vanya says with another haunting laugh.

Rex turns with the blade raised only to find the street empty, the women both having disappeared into thin air leaving him alone with a ruined street and several mortally wounded clones.

As much as he wants to stay and know that his brothers are alright, he can hear the sirens in the distance getting closer, multiple sirens if listens closely. He can’t afford to get caught again so he runs away from Wolffe and the wreckage.

Who are the women that saved him? They know exactly where he was and intervened only when he had been caught because he has been selected by the ‘ _Mother’_? Rex doesn’t recognize the clothing or the markings they wore but for whatever reason they wanted him to leave the planet?

Now he _knows_ he’s being set up by someone and the more he thinks about what they had said and what they had called him, it feels more like they’re leading him to his slaughter. They know who Anakin is which only makes Rex more nervous, his mind is running a million miles an hour and he can’t seem to order any thoughts into any sort of image that would allow him to understand the situation any better.

He knows he won’t be any less vulnerable in the sucking void of space, probably more vulnerable if he’s being honest with himself. However, he hopes he can find someone that could help him piece the scraps of information together.

There has to be someone out there that he can trust to believe in his innocence. He doesn’t want to think about a reality where the entire galaxy has turned it’s back on him, it’s to depressing to fathom.

Whatever the future holds he has to meet it head on, his life isn’t the only thing in the precarious balancing game that someone has orchestrated and he is determined to end the game as the victor.


	3. That's Not Like You

Ahsoka wheezes painfully as what feels like several tones of steel and concrete crushes her lungs inside her body. She curls in on herself as she tries her best to breath through the pain but it does nothing to help even as she tries to release pain into the force.

In her distraction she stumbles off the chair and onto the ground with a hard thud, the impact rattles her shoulder painfully.

“Commander Tano!” Wooley says as the lieutenant runs over to her.

She wants to say that she’s fine but it only comes out as a gasp of pain and she clutches herself harder.

“Miracle! The Commander is hurt, get over here!” He shouts into his wrist.

She hardens her shields and slaps the training bond with Anakin closed, if she’s hurt she doesn’t want to broadcast it to her Master or to any of the clones. She knows the medics are more force-sensitive than other clones.

Ahsoka doesn’t want to overwhelm Miracle with what she’s feeling.

“Commander Tano can you here me?” Miracle asks as he slowly uncurls her and lays her out on the floor.

The pain slowly fades, as well as the turbulent emotions and she realizes the pain was never hers.

“Yes, I’m okay.” She says with another pained wheeze.

“With all due respect Commander, you fell to the floor with a scream of pain, I don’t think you’re okay.” Wooley says dryly.

“I know, I know it looks bad but trust me when I say I’m not hurt.” She says but still lets Miracle check her over and hand her an electrolyte replenisher, a ration bar and a cold compress for her shoulder.

She sits on the couch for a few minutes as she waits for the coloured powder to seep into her drink but even as she tries to remain calm, she knows something terrible has happened.

The moment she had slammed the mental link between her and Anakin closed the pain had stopped immediately. The rage and agony that he seemed to revel in had been physically painful to even brush against, the bright yellow of his force signature had turned into a swampy black the reeked of the darkside.

She fears for her Master, he isn’t himself and she hopes she’s wrong to think he has awoken from his force coma, if he has then he is a danger to everyone around him including himself.

If he is awake Rex won’t survive the force of his anger.

“Wooley has there been any report from Wolffe about Rex?” She asks and instantly regrets it as his face crumples in sorrow.

“It’s nothing good Commander, Wolffe had reported to Commander Cody saying that another unidentified group was also following Rex and their intentions were unknown. However, about 30 minutes ago we lost contact and only now has Plo Koon found the remnants of an attack on the unit that had found Rex on level 5 in the fashion district.” Wooley says.

“How bad is it?” She asks and braces herself for the worst.

“The entire unit is in intensive care, whoever did this completely tore through the men, Ridge is dead and we don’t know if Moss or Expo will make it through the night. Civilians reported to have seen two sentient females talk to Rex before he left the scene, we aren’t sure if they’re working together or if he knows them.” Wooley says and Ahsoka rubs her face roughly.

“Rex wouldn’t want any vod’e to be hurt so I doubt he’s working with them, try and find any footage of the attack and see if we’ve had any data breaches. If the knew where to find Rex right when Wolffe caught up to him it means someone knows more than they should. We need to find out who.” Ahsoka says darkly and Wooley nods before turning away and typing something into his holo-pager.

“Rex, I hope you know what you’re doing…” She sighs feeling frustrated at being assigned desk duty, deep down she knows why she’s being held out of the chase.

Everyone knows she and Rex are close, probably too close for a Jedi and a clone. War has blurred every single line about attachment in the code and she’s taken after her master and just ignored the rest.

She would give her life for Rex’s and he would do the same for her, she loves him she knows she does but in what way is something she doesn’t know. Him being a clone only complicated things further, she had wanted to confront him about it when a sparring session had gotten a little too heated and he all but ran away with an apology thrown over his shoulder. She hadn’t seen him for the rest of the day and now he’s on the run for murder.

Clearly, it isn’t the best time to talk about their forbidden attraction.

The council had slapped her with desk duty because they knew her feelings would impede her ability to hunt the Captain down. They knew her emotions would cloud her judgement but she can’t help to think that maybe Ridge would still be alive if they has sent her with Wolffe.

Rex is Wolffe’s brother, any of the clones would have a chance of hesitating when chasing their own brother. Ahsoka thinks a little bitterly that the Council is trying to remind her of what her place is as a Jedi, there’s no emotion, only peace.

What a joke.

“Ahsoka come in! Ahsoka!” Obi-Wan’s voice rings out on her comm.

“Master Kenobi, has something happened?” Of course something has happened, she smacks herself mentally.

“It’s Anakin, Ahsoka. He’s escaped the Temple and is going after Rex. You have to reach him before Anakin does, he’s not right Ahsoka he’ll kill Rex before we can get any answers. The darkside has a tight grip on him and I’m not sure I can break it.” Obi-Wan says frantically.

“I’m on it Master Kenobi.” Ashoka says as she vaults over the desk and runs for the door leaving behind several anxious clones.

“Rex was last spotted going to the outgoing ports, Anakin will be just behind him, be careful Ahsoka.” Obi-Wan says sounding pained.

“I will Master.” Ahsoka says and she just hopes she can get to the ports in time.

* * *

Rex can feel the sweat slide down his face as he tries to calm his racing heart, after the women had left he ran through the streets , dipping in and out of the alleys to avoid detection for the whole 5 kilometer distance.

Sweat has soaked through the thin jumpsuit and made his skin cakey and slick feeling, the air of the night blows a cold breeze through the empty space lot, cooling the sweat against his skin and he shivers miserably.

He hopes he hadn’t looked like a mad man sneaking around when he had slipped under the closing gate. The port is mostly, if not completely empty with all the workers having gone home for the night leaving only a few security guards to patrol the hundreds docking bays.

Rex debates whether to break open one of the garages and steal a personal ship or to stow away on a transport. Stealing one would be easier to travel in but he knows the port is designed to lock down if a theft attempt is detected.

Stowing away would have a high chance of being found out but he could be lightyears away from Coruscant by the time anyone would find him. He’s also an elite solider, he could convince a crew that he had his uses and if not he would use force to convince them.

He winces at that last thought, he doesn’t like the way he’s been thinking, he is sounding more like a bounty hunter, more like Jango. Only being out for himself and taking things by force has never been who he is but his desperation is driving to do things would never do.

His mind flashes to Wolffe and how his cybernetic eye had sparked worryingly as he hung from the woman’s hand half dead, the memory makes him uncomfortable and he shoves it away.

Wolffe would survive, Rex isn’t so sure about himself, Anakin is bound to find him eventually.

He decides to steal a ship, once he has to ditch the spacecraft he could sell it for something else or snag a few credits for its parts. Running up and down the levels of the individual garages far above the main platform he searches for an unlocked door or a docking hinge he could easily snap off.

As luck would have it he sees a garage at the end of the platform closest to the open night that hasn’t been fully closed, a full foot of space has been left open and he looks around quickly before he runs over and slides to his knees.

Rex jams his hands under the opening and pries the gate open, so he has enough space to pull the ship out. It’s an expensive, high powered, single person ship and he can’t help but feel like something is suspicious, it’s almost too perfect to trust.

He suddenly hears a soft beeping and he drops the door of the garage and scrambles to jump out of the way as a fiery explosion rips the door off and flings it into the open air to fall several stories. He looks behind him to see that the garage and ship have been reduced to nothing but a smoking-flaming death trap.

Rex rolls to his feet and pats at the flames on his upper arm to douse what bits of his jumpsuit that had been ignited by the blast. That was no accident, he had walked right into somebody’s trap.

“Stealing Rex? That’s not like you, then again you did murder my wife so I don’t know what to trust anymore.” Anakin says as he jumps onto the platform from the level below.

“Anakin…” Rex says slowly as he rips off the last bits of the cloak that sadly didn’t escape the flames. His shoulder feels numb and he knows that it means he’s either gone into shock or his shoulder has a third degree burn on it.

Anakin saunters towards him and he sees how his eyes are an ugly yellow with a mess of red veins, he backs up slowly.

“You don’t get to call me that! Not after what you did!” Anakin shouts as his eyes flash with fury and he ignites his red and blue lightsaber.

“I didn’t kill your wife!” Rex shouts back as he continues to back up, the air screams with tension so thick that he feels like lightning would spring from the atoms surrounding them.

“Then who did!” He shouts back and a spacecraft next to him explodes in a fiery ball, it knocks him off his feet sending him sliding off the walkway, he just barely holds onto the ledge with one hand as he dangles precariously.

If he falls there is nothing to save him, he would be nothing but a stain on the ground hundreds of meters below him.

Anakin’s boot falls heavily on his hand and he presses down to crush his fingers under the thick leather and rubber.

He can’t help but cry out in fear and pain.

“Then who did? Who killed Padmé?” Anakin growls as he crouches down.

“I don’t know! I know as much as you do! Why would I murder Padmé?”” Rex says between gritted teeth as Anakin twists his foot, he can feel something break in his hand and he tries not to cry out.

Anakin’s foot is the only thing that’s keeping him pinned to the platform.

He abruptly feels weightless as Anakin lifts his body by his neck and slams him to the wall, keeping him pinned by his neck with the weight of his anger. He tries his best to breath around the crushing weight on his throat.

“You’re nothing but a liar! I’ll enjoy making your death as painful as possible!” He snaps and Rex can feel how his windpipe almost collapses from the pressure and he can only inhale the barest whisper of air.

Just enough to keep himself alive for a short while but not enough to live, Anakin smirks at his struggles before raising his second hand. Confused Rex just stares at the other man in fear and tries to think of a way to reason with the mad man, blinding lightning erupts from his fingertips and he isn’t prepared for how much it hurts. His whole body spasms and convulses and his vision starts to go dark as the onslaught of the force lightning continues, he grits his teeth an bites down on his wheezing cries as he knows Anakin will only be encouraged by the sounds and cause him more pain.

“Anakin stop!” Rex hears before the man is thrown violently off his feet and Rex drops to the ground, the impact of his body doesn’t even register in his mind.

He hurts and he can’t see as most of his vision as gone dark or blurred, his lungs don’t expand to drag air into his body as much as he tries to get them to. He’s helpless and slowly dying as his mind scrambles to get his body to respond, distantly he knows its too to fight the pull of death and he closes his eyes.

The dark didn’t hurt and maybe he would lucky enough to see his brothers again. Ahsoka had always said all living creations return to the force when the die, it sounded nice.

He feels the vibration of someone’s knees hitting the ground next to him and he can almost here them say something but the darkness blots out everything and he knows it’s too late for him. He just hopes Ahsoka doesn’t carry more guilt on her already overburdened shoulders, she deserved so much better.

He only regrets not telling her how he felt but dead men don’t tell tales, she’ll never know how he truly adores her.


	4. I Don't Need Your Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the last post for this week, I'm headed to a cottage with no coverage but once I get back after the 28th I'll actually be following my Monday/Thursday update schedule!

Ahsoka has never feared her Master, Anakin is like an older brother to her. Always there for her to gently guide and support her. The other initiates had either cowerd in fear of his name or had spoken about him like he was gifted to the Order by the force itself.

Several had been envious when she had been chosen to be his padawan. She had come to learn, that neither the bedazzling stories or rumours of an untameable Jedi that indulged in ways of the darkside were true.

When she had first met him, he was painfully young, barely 5 fivers older than her and already a Jedi Knight. He was brash and arrogant and it still makes her laugh as she remembers how he had almost immediately dumped her onto Rex. Through the years that she has trained under Anakin she came to realize that he was and still is a troubled young man with an unresolved anger that sits heavily on his heart. A man who loved too strongly for his own good and sometimes too strongly for the good of others.

Though many more traditional Jedi would write him off for his misgivings Ahsoka had never condemned his emotions. While she cringes away at some of his more violent tendencies, he has never turned that violence against her or his men no matter how badly the fighting got or how angry he was.

This time is different, fear shoots through her body like lightning as she scrambles up each platform. Pushing her body far past its limits in order to follow the screams of pain and flames that burst from the highest platform.

She wants to trick herself into thinking that the explosion was a freak accident and that’s she’s been chasing around a wild goose for the past 20 minutes. Even so, she can feel the distinct vocal vibrations that her montrals pick up, two voices that make her push her body faster.

Anakin has caught up with Rex, she can’t feel her Master in the force and Rex’s force signature is entwined with fear and pain.

She almost loses her grip on one of the platforms as she hears the chilling crack of lightning and the following screams of pain, there are no storm clouds in the night sky. She tries to keep her mindless panic down and she focuses her power to jump to the final platform. Blinding white light flashes along the platform casting dark and twisted shadows along the walls, making the scene look like the exact nightmare it is.

Rex convulses and contorts in pain as Anakin attacks him with the full force of his power, the smell of burning flesh fills the air and she has to stop herself from vomiting as she pushes herself into action. Jumping forward with her green blades ignited she focus the path of the lightning onto her blade so she can deflect it harmlessly into the air.

“Anakin stop!” She says desperately as the man’s face twists in an ugly snarl, almost as if asking why she had stopped him.

“Ahsoka move! It’s time that I kill this scum for good.” He barks back as he takes a menacing step forwards but Ahsoka refuses to be intimidated and she plants her feet.

She can feel how Rex’s force signature seems to whimper and shrink away from the clawing black mess that is Anakin’s force signature.

“Anakin, this isn’t like you, you need help. Think about what you’re doing.” She pleads and for a moment his eyes flash back to blue as he seemingly has a moment of realization, until they flood with the unearthly yellow again.

“Why are you defending him! He’s a murderer” Anakin shouts angrily and Ahsoka winces but as someone who was also framed for a crime she didn’t commit, she knows how easily footage and facts can be doctored to change a narrative.

“Anakin think for a moment! Why would Rex kill Padmé? They were friends, what reason would he have? If you kill him, we’ll never know what really happened!” Ahsoka says trying to reason with him and he snorts before straightening.

“Fine! We’ll do it your way, if he is guilty then I’ll be front row at his execution.” He snarls before jumping away and disappearing into the darkness, Ahsoka let’s out a sigh she didn’t know she was holding as she watches him go.

She’s confident that Obi-Wan and the other Masters will be able to bring Anakin out of whatever darkness has claimed him.

_But what if they don’t?_

She shakes her head roughly, she can’t fantasize about a future where her Master is lost forever to the darkness, she won’t let it happen even if she has to drag him out herself. Breathing deeply she releases her fear into the force and she runs to Rex’s side as he lays motionless on the ground.

She rips the top half of his ruined jumpsuit away to look at his injuries and she cringes at what she sees. His body is covered in crawling electric burns and patches of skin that look like they have burned away by an intense heat, she flicks her eyes over to the flaming garage.

“Rex…?” She asks worriedly, the worry turns into a new wave of panic as he doesn’t respond and she fumbles to find a pulse.

She doesn’t find one, Anakin has stopped his heart.

“Shit.” She swears as she freezes slightly.

Pulling all the knowledge the healers have told her about force healing and everything Kix has taught her about battlefield triage she gets to work. She begins pumping his chest as she focuses her power on his heart, trying to tempt it back into beating without crushing it completely.

“Come on Rex, you can’t die here.” She whispers hoarsely, he doesn’t respond.

Bending down she presses her lips to Rex’s and blows air into his body, she cuts all her feelings off and boxes them away into the back of her mind as she mechanically urges his body back to life. This isn’t the time to think about how his lips feel against hers. She focuses on alternating between blowing puffs of air and pumping his chest much like Kix had showed her a dozen times before.

She is immensely glad for the man’s foresight, but he never told what to do when the technique doesn’t seem to work. Rex is just as lifeless as he was when she first skidded to her knees to check his condition and she’s starting to lose hope.

She had failed Anakin and now she is failing Rex.

As she’s blowing air into his mouth the man suddenly jerks in her grip and the force ignites with his vibrant purple force signature, she almost cries with joy. She backs off to let the man suck in rough drags of air as he groans softly.

“Rex…?” She asks again and he pries his eyes open to look at her hazily.

He coughs again and she pulls him into her lap so his burn wounds aren’t crushed against a dirty floor. Her lap probably isn’t much better, she feels the telltale wetness of blood and white blood cells seep into her leggings but she knows he’s less likely to get an infection leaning on her.

“Ahsoka…You saved me?” He rasps, while he is alive and somewhat responsive, if he isn’t treated soon then all her effort into reviving him will be for nothing.

“Yes, I did, Anakin would never forgive himself if he knows he killed you once he gets back to normal and you’re my best friend.” Ahsoka says.

_I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing I did nothing._

Rex looks like he’s about to say something but before he can make a sound several Coruscant guard transports fly down and surround them, several guards hop off onto the platform led by Plo Koon. Whatever hope she has is immediately sucked out, as the guards point their rifles at Rex’s limp body.

“Master Plo, Anakin…he…” Ahsoka says stuttering over her words as she tries to describe what her Master has become.

“Obi-Wan is handling him lil ‘soka, there is no need to worry about the well being of young Skywalker. I commend your ability to track down the captain, unfortunately you must hand him over to the GAR.” Plo Koon says softly as he comes to kneel next to Ahsoka.

He places a hand over Rex’s eyes and she can feel his spike of panic, it’s bright and loud as his purple signature flares before dimming in unconsciousness as Rex goes completely lax in her grip.

“I understand Master Plo.” Ahsoka says softly as she lets several guards haul Rex’s limp form onto a bio-bed, they bind his wrists and ankles to the side rails making movement impossible. Ahsoka has to hold back the knee-jerk reaction to indignantly shout at the men for treating Rex like a common criminal. He deserved better than the rough treatment and it hurts her to see him look small and unnaturally still as he’s carted away.

However, he is nothing more than a common criminal to them and the majority of the planet and she knows his guilt will only spread through the stars. She can the sense of wrongness that hangs in the air.

“Master Plo—” She starts to say but he turns to her and nods his head.

“I know Ahsoka, I feel it too. The force has gone dark and the Council does not know why.” Plo Koon says and Ahsoka feels every vein in her body go cold.

The darkness is spreading and she doesn’t know how to stop it.

* * *

Rex wakes with a pained groan.

He feels like he’s been through a trash compactor and he can’t move any his limbs, a jolt of panic slashes through his body as he mindlessly tries to move his arms and legs.

“Easy vod.” A voice says.

“Cody?” Rex asks roughly as he opens his eyes slowly, expecting to be bombarded with bright med bay light.

What he doesn’t expect is to be bombarded with the smell of week-old sweat, excrement and the low red lights of a Coruscant cell. The fact that all of him limbs have been strapped down to the bed that he’s lying on comes as even more of a shock.

“Hey Rex, how are you feeling?” His brother asks, he sounds distant and uninterested.

“Thirsty.” Rex responds honestly and a bottle is brought to his lips and he swallows the cool liquid graciously, it sooths his dry throat and washes down the taste of smoke and blood.

“Where am I Cody?” Rex asks, there’s no way to tell how much time has passed since Plo Koon rendered him unconscious to him waking up now.

“Republic prison facility, you were in a bacta tank for about two days where you flatlined and the doctors had to perform emergency surgery on you. Skywalker definitely did a number on you. The scarring is permanent, and you’ll probably feel sore for a while.” Cody responds and Rex can see how his expression tightens.

Rex looks down at his body and realizes he’s in nothing but his briefs, thick white bandages wrap around his body from his mid-thigh, up his body and almost down to his wrists.

“What’s going to happen to me Cody?” Rex asks hollowly, he’s failed to get off the planet and now he’s at the mercy of everyone who is convinced he’s a murderer.

“It’s nothing good vod, the Senate is convinced you’re guilty and your trial is being held three weeks from now. You’re being detained in the prison until your trial, I’m here to help remove your bandages and hand you your new uniform.” He says stonily as he slaps an orange jumpsuit onto Rex’s bed.

It has 7567 stamped on the back.

“Cody, you really can’t be serious? They’re throwing me in jail without any evidence.” Rex demands as his brother stares at him impassively.

He stares at him longer than Rex likes.

“Rex, there’s video footage of you murdering Senator Amidala, the justice committee already has plenty of reasons to lock you up without a trial.” Cody says and Rex clenches his fists.

“You believe that I’m guilty too, don’t you?” Rex hisses between his teeth, which makes Cody snap.

He can’t tell if it’s the exhaustion, the accusation or his tone but Cody slams his hands down on either side of Rex’s head and leans in close so that their faces are only inches apart.

His brother is furious but deeply conflicted and in so much pain.

“Don’t you dare get mad at me, I’m already toeing some lines by even being in here to talk to you, you have to know what this looks like. We see you kill the Senator, then you go on the run, you leave the scene where Wolffe is attacked and seemingly speak with the assailants. It doesn’t look good vod’ika.” Cody says and his face crumples, he rips his hands off the bed and collapses onto a chair with his head in his hands.

“What am I supposed to do Rex?” He whispers brokenly and Rex can see how tears splash against the white armor of his thighs.

“I’m being framed, that’s all I know. You don’t have to believe me, just know I had no reason to kill Padme Amidala, I had no reason to kill my friend. I’ll prove that I’m being framed even if it kills me. I don’t need you to trust me to know that I didn’t commit a crime.” Rex says frustratedly.

“That won’t stand against a judge and I won’t be able to help you.” Cody says wetly as he walks to Rex’s bed and starts to unravel his bandages.

As the white strips of fabric are cut away it slowly to reveal the mess that his body has become, he wants to cry out in horror. His body, his own flesh is unrecognizable as it is marred with reaching spiderweb scars that travel up and down his torso, he wishes that he never has to see himself again.

“Well then can you trust me, or even believe me?” Rex asks Cody as he tries to distract himself from the horrors of his own body.

The silence stretches on as Cody doesn’t respond, purposefully focused on cutting the ribbons away. It hurts more than he can say to not have his brother’s trust and he blinks back tears of anguish.

The door of his cell suddenly slides open and Fox along with several other guards walk in with their electro-staffs.

“That will be all Commander Cody.” Fox says robotically.

He sees how Cody goes stiff but then reluctantly nods his head and slams his bucket on, he doesn’t spare Rex a look back. It seals the distrust between them with a soldering iron and Rex can’t help but resent his brother a little.

“Get dressed prisoner.” Fox says and Rex has to stop himself from growling at his brother.

The binders unlock and he stiffly stretched out his aching limbs, his hands shake minutely and he curses his own weakness. He grabs the ugly jumpsuit roughly and tugs it on, in his recklessness he chafes his fresh burns. The motion sends lightning bolts of pain up his body that make his vision go hazy and a cold sweat claims his body.

He barely has the zipper zipped up before the guards, who are barely shinies yank on his arms to force him out of the cell and he hisses at them. They jerk at his hostility but Fox ignites his electro-staff in warning. Rex submits and doesn’t fight them any further as they drag him through the halls under the threat of pain.

It's humiliating.

He doesn’t even feel like a person as they yank him onto the floating platform of the main prison. The lights are too bright, hoots and hollers are thrown at him as he is paraded through the bay. Criminals and bounty hunters he has helped put away throw insults and lewd comments at him until they arrive at a cell with an empty bed.

“Welcome to you new home prisoner. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay.” The guard says dryly as the other one snickers.

They deactivate the red ray-shield before roughly shoving him inside and they float away without another word

“Home sweet home indeed.” Rex sighs miserably as he slumps onto the empty bunk.

He has three weeks to prove himself innocent but he doesn’t know where to start. All he has are the vague words the two mysterious women had said and the green blade that has to be long gone at this point

Nothing added up and he is running out of time, he dreads the things he’s going to have to do in order survive.


	5. A Slick Move

“Anakin….” Ahsoka says sadly as she watches her Master through the ray-shield as he snarls and growls at her.

While she had refuted the idea of ever putting the Jedi in a cell, she knows that it is currently the safest place to hold them until they can crack the darkside that has a white knuckle grip on him. Ahsoka thinks hopelessly that all the rage and darkness he has been precariously keeping contained has broken through his control and flooded all his senses. Like a poor unsuspecting village being caught in a torrent once a dam breaks after holding so much back.

Only difference is that, the Republic is the village that stands in the way of Anakin’s tidal wave of rage.

“Ahsoka you need to let me out of here! I demand it!” Her Master growls as he tugs on the collar cutting him off from the force.

With the force unreachable to him his eyes have changed back to their normal blue, no longer the sickly yellow and red. As upsetting as it is to be purposefully separated from the force, she knows that no darkside user will be able to latch onto his vulnerable psyche and turn him further into the darkness.

Her mind quickly flashes to Barriss and she angrily shuts down the line of thinking.

Barbaric as it might be to keep a wounded and grief-stricken man in what is basically a prison. How he had gleefully inflicted pain onto Rex was proof enough to the Council that he had to be detained, Ahsoka can’t help but reluctantly agree.

When she realized that she agreed with the Council she knows the situation ss dire.

Cody and Obi-Wan have practically locked themselves in the Jedi archives when they aren’t sorting out the chaotic mess of the 501st. The men are now left floundering with their beloved captain being thrown into a maximum-security prison for murder. They are also left completely demoralized without the Jedi General who they all looked up to as infallible, their hero with no fear who has been reduced to nothing but a raving mad man.

Her heart breaks for her Master and a small part of her wishes that Obi-Wan hadn’t been able to subdue him, some part wishes that he was able to escape and disappear into deep space.

Not to shirk her own responsibility that comes to her as his Padawan but she thinks, just maybe he would find some sort of peace with himself among the stars. It’s where he truly belongs, Anakin was never meant to remain planet side for long periods of time.

Even as she hopes, deep down she knows that nothing will replace Padmé or his unborn children. Through the madness and anger she can feel how the force sings with sorrow and grief around him.

“Anakin, Rex is in prison. Going after him is futile, it won’t make you feel any better about Padmé.” She says hoarsely.

Her mood does nothing but plummet when the scowl on his face turns murderous.

“If you’re not going to help me then leave, I’ve heard enough excuses from Obi-Wan.” He snarls as he throws himself against the ray-shield.

“But Anakin-” Ahsoka says as her eyes well with tears.

“I said go!” He wails and it sends painful vibrations through their training bond, she sighs heavily and clutches her arms as she sadly walks out of the prison.

Only to ram into Obi-Wan.

Her grandmaster looks as bad as she feels and the older Master only sighs forlornly.

“Oh Ahsoka, I am so sorry.” The older Jedi says as he brings her into a hug.

She buries her face into his neck, she isn’t sure if it’s the comforting smell of tea or the smell of his shampoo but having the older Jedi close, having the force feel like nothing but love and comfort bursts the dam of emotions she was holding while in front of Anakin.

It all bursts through causing her to sob messily into his shoulder.

“I know my dear, I know.” He says softly against her montrals and she cries harder.

She knew he knight trials would be hard but no one had told her to become a Knight she would have to lose everything.

* * *

“Well, well, well, ain’t this a sight.” A voice says from behind him as he sits hunched over the slop they served as food, desperately trying to eat his breakfast undisturbed.

Shit.

“Hello Slick. Didn’t expect to see you here.” Rex says blandly into his mush, not bothering to give Slick the satisfaction of getting a reaction.

“No, you probably though you washed your hands of me once you handed me off to our enslavers.” Slick hisses angrily as he swipes Rex’s tray off the table.

It lands with a hard clatter on the ground drawing the amused attention of several other inmates who look over at them with knowing smirks.

“I was going to eat that.” Rex says dryly, he had barely gotten a few bites in before Slick had decided that he was done, he knows this place doesn’t serve seconds.

“Oh you’ll be eating plenty of your teeth soon enough Rex, you see the common theme in this place is usually a strong hatred for Jedi and I’ve made quite a few friends in here who are looking to relieve some anger.” Slicks says manically.

“Get to the point, you know the reason Cody knocked you on your ass was because you monologued enough to give him an opening.” Rex says with a smirk and Slick growls before throwing a fist at his face.

Rex blocks the attack easily and sweeps Slick’s legs to overbalance him enough to throw him into another metal table.

“You really think you can beat me in a fight years after me and Cody subdued you when I’ve been doing noting but fighting and you’ve been rotting in here?” Rex asks incredulously.

“If I remember correctly, I did rip your groin, I still know I can’t beat you in a one on one but I have back up this time.” Slick says darkly and several hands wrap around his arms and legs pulling tight so that he’s splayed out and vulnerable in the middle of the cafeteria.

He looks up at the walkway above and surprisingly no clone guards stand at attention watching the cafeteria. He can only see the distinct blue armor of the Senate guards looking down disdainfully at them. None of them look as if they are going to intervene or make a motion to break up the fight.

They just stand stock still with their blasters and electro-staffs. Their weapons have been upgraded recently to look especially deadly and Rex doesn’t doubt for a second that they will shoot to kill if it looks like someone is trying to escape.

“Don’t bother trying to look to them for help Captain, after murdering that Senator they want you dead as much as everyone else here. It’s not every day that Skywalker’s pet clone is sent to a maximum-security prison.” Bane says as he tightens his old on Rex’s left arm.

He knows that the bounty hunter has him in an arm lock that will immediately break his elbow if he tries to wiggle loose.

“Well I expected you to be dead at this point but today is full of surprises.” Rex snipes back and the Duros presses on his elbow in warning.

Slick hits him hard in the stomach knocking the air out of him in a painful wheeze and the sound of his pain spurs him on. His vison fades in and out as Slick relentlessly attacks him with punches and kicks.

All Rex can do is try and stay conscious enough to tell the floor apart from the ceiling, he knows if help does come it will be from the most morally dubious people and he isn’t looking to have is organs harvested.

“Alright that’s enough, everyone back to your cells! I’m talking to you Bane!” Rex hears a guard bark distantly and he’s dropped like a sack of flour onto the floor. Someone kicks him in the ribs as the group meanders away and he tries not to whimper in pain.

Every breath he takes rattles his body uncomfortably and he shrinks in on himself when more hands roughly grab at him.

“Easy now captain, we’ll get you patched up so you can get yourself beaten to a pulp again.” One of the guards says and there’s a following laugh as the others haul him onto stiff surface he distantly recognizes as a cot.

He tries to keep his eyes open but he knows one of them has swelled shut, the lights overhead pass by in a hypnotizing pattern that makes staying awake far more challenging with every second that passes.

As much as he doesn’t trust anyone at the facility to keep him safe and in moderately one piece, he loses the fight against his body and he falls into the darkness of unconsciousness.

_Oh, my dear soldier, we were right to pick you. You will serve us well._

* * *

_Ahsoka…._

_AHSOKA!_

She wakes with a gasp, her room is pitch black and feels as cold as Illum during it’s winter months.

She had the absolute luck of traveling to the planet to find her Kyber crystal during the that time and she remembers the biting clod vividly.

She blindly reaches for her light switch on the wall but as she slaps the panel repeatedly it refuses to turn on making her more nervous as the moments stretch on.

 _“Please…Ahsoka, help me…”_ A voice says as it drifts through the darkness.

She ignites her lightsabers, they do nothing to penetrate the oppressive darkness.

“Padmé?” She asks nervously as she swings her head around tob ry and peer through the darkness.

There is no reason that she should be hearing her dead friend’s voice, unless she too, is falling into a grief-stricken madness like her Master has.

Suddenly the floor opens up and swallows her whole, she barely has the control over her body to let out a shout of panic before she starts plummeting into the Abyss.

Voices join Padmé’s as they all shout her name, calling her to help. Rex, Anakin, Padmé, all their voice combine to make an awful screeching sound that vibrates harshly against her heightened senses.

She lands abruptly on a rocky cliff, the darkness lifts leaving her alone and the voices stop. She carefully stands up and winces as her hands and knees throb in pain as she climbs the point that hangs over an endless canyon.

“Padmé? Rex? Anyone?” She asks into the darkness.

A green light shines over the canyon ominously, both from the moon above and deep from within the canyon below. She suddenly hates the colour with a deep intensity.

“Oh, child you look lost.” A deep menacing voice says as a half woman, half scaley beast emerges from the green fog.

“Who are you supposed to be?” She demands reaching for her lightsabers, only to find them missing.

“You don’t know me, but you will. You Jedi have a habit of being blind when a threat isn’t hacking at you with a lightsaber. Never aware when something is eating away at you like an illness until it’s too late.” The woman hisses as she slithers closer and Ahsoka can see now that her eyes also glow green.

It's so unnerving she thinks she won’t even be able to look at her own lightsabers anymore. The colour is starting to make her feel sick.

“What do you want with me?” Ahsoka shouts at the woman who only chuckles and slides closer to lean her elbows on the rocky point.

“I was hoping that we could create an alliance, in order to save your dear friends.” She says smarmily as a flame ignites in the palm of her hand showing Rex, Anakin and Padmé on three separate alters.

Ahsoka is instantly set on edge.

“You’re no ally of mine. I bet you’re behind this!” She hisses and the woman curls her tail around the point, crushing it under the sheer strength and weight.

“Then you will die.” The woman shrieks as she rips Ahsoka’s platform to bits and the young Togruta falls into the smoky canyon and into the woman’s awaiting mouth.

Her wickedly sharp teeth close around her and seals her in darkness with a sickening crunch.

She gasps and jerks awake for the second time, her body drenched in sweat as her heart beats a rapid staccato.

She reaches for her lightsabers that obediently fly into her grasp. She runs out of her dorm room in nothing but her sleepwear, Ahsoka runs through the empty and darkened hallways of the Temple with one place in mind.

She knows it’s late, she also knows this can’t wait as she runs through the halls of the Masters, almost running into Oppo Rancisis on her way to Obi-Wan’s room.

“Master Kenobi!” She shouts as she bursts into his room, she knows that he rarely keeps the door locked.

The man has so many friends in the Order that when he isn’t away anyone could walk in for a chat. He only really locked the door when he knew he was going to be away for months on another campaign.

“Ahsoka...? What is it my dear?” He asks rubbing his eyes blearily as he jerks from under his bedding.

She feels a flash of guilt at waking him up. She also feels herself darken in a furious blush as she notices dark brown hair emerge from under the covers as Cody slowly sits up, the covers falling off his bare chest to pool lowly around his waist.

“I’m sorry I can come back.” She mumbles.

“It’s fine my dear, I trust your judgment and I know you would not have come bursting into my room at such an hour if you didn’t think it was important.” Obi-Wan says kindly and she instantly feels better and she sits on the far corner of his bed.

“I had a vision…I think Rex and Anakin may be in more trouble than we think.” Ahsoka says worriedly and Obi-Wan nods at her to continue with his mouth in a hard-knowing line.

She has a sinking feeling that he also knows more and for someone reason hadn’t immediately spoken about it, which didn’t bode well for any of them.


	6. She's Watching

Fox walks through the halls of the prison facility, he ignores the jeers and please for mercy as passes the cells holding criminals waiting for their penance. Most of them low level criminals or drunken fools that caused a little too much damage for the Republic to tolerate. They would either be back on the streets tomorrow morning or if their crimes are great enough, shipped off world to a work camp on one of several colony planets to earn back their freedom.

He as no business with any of them, today he needs to go deeper. He’s exhausted, he can feel how his skin seems to peel away from his skull as the lack of sleep weighs heavily under his eyes. He once felt scorned by being placed as Commander of the Guard, after his lower legs had been cleanly sliced off by a high-speed piece of shrapnel during the first battle of Geonosis. However, as the war had progressed he’s seen more action that he ever thought he would.

From a hostage crisis, to bombings and assassinations he’s sure an aneurysm would get him before a blaster bolt. Either that or he would be decommissioned for killing a Senator, the way they needle him about things, it’s entirely possible.

Though not every single Senator makes him consider murder on a daily basis, he’s already in too deep with a certain Senator. He knows it’s especially true when he had to roll out of Riyo Chuchi’s bed a few hours ago. While he’s done it plenty of times over the past several months, he just wanted to curl up with her on this particular day and ignore the world. He didn’t want to leave knowing he was going to tell his baby brother that the Supreme Chancellor had made the executive decision to skip a formal trial. Stating that his crimes were to heinous and that he is schedule for execution in 2 cycles.

The damn blonde bastard had finally run out of miracles, all the close calls and near deaths he had suffered through in the past few years had finally caught up to him.

All of it happening on a planet that has never seen a war.

While he’s seen plenty of unsettling things during his multiple sting operations or patrols on the lower levels, there’s something about the past few days that twists his stomach. Something that seems too crawl just under his skin that he can’t tear out. It makes him break out in a cold sweat and feel like he’s drenched in oil even when he scratches his skin raw in the shower. The feeling of unease has ripped any ability to sleep or eat away from him and it’s starting to affect his thinking.

Enough to let the Senate guard bully their way into the prison and kick the shinnies out under threat of decommissioning if they didn’t obey. He’s glad he could send Thorn to settle the terrified boys after they came simpering into HQ, Thorn always has a way to handling the fresh guards they got straight from Kamino. Fox doesn’t know what he would do without him, any of his commanders really, even if Stone and Thire drive him crazy he knows life is less miserable with them around.

Now instead of talking to Rex behind an orange ray-shield he stomps his way into the prison med bay to see the blonde captain, with his orange jumpsuit zipped down to his waist and bound to a cot. He looks as if he’s been run over by a trash compactor.

He already knows that Slick got his hands on him the moment he heard there was an incident in the cafeteria. The dar’vod was foaming at the mouth once news got around that Rex had been arrested. Apparently, he had several scores to settle from when he and Cody had arrested him during their stint on Christophsis. It definitely didn’t help Rex’s case that the traitor had managed to make _friends_ in prison.

“Fox…” Rex croaks weakly as he flinches away from the probing med-droid as it administers an anti-septic spray to his stitches that curl around eye, stretching over his temple and cheekbone.

“Blondie, you’re looking a little rough.” Fox says mildly, he isn’t sure how to address his baby brother.

Something deep in his gut tells him that Rex’s crime was too perfect, almost as if it was a setup to distract from a much more heinous crime. Another part of him whispers that he’s being soft, that the tapes of Padmé Amidala’s murder was irrefutable evidence that he committed the crime.

A third part reminds him that they still don’t know who sent the tapes. Who knew to record her apartment at that’s _specific time_ and send it to the Jedi Council knowing it would get a rise out of Skywalker, ultimately revealing their secret yet no so secret marriage. Too many questions and no answers other than a few dead brothers, a critically wounded Wolffe and two mysterious assailants that seem to know everything that’s going on.

Even as he knows something is amiss, they’re missing the giant flashing warning signs right in front of their faces he still has to remain loyal to the Chancellor. He knows if he starts revealing that he’s not the stoic and unquestionably loyal Commander that he has made everyone think he is. Then people will start to question his act and if he is going to truly solve what’s going on he can’t incriminate his own character.

He'll need to draw Cody and Wolffe aside to discus his theory the moment he can wiggle away from the Chancellor for more than 30 seconds.

Until then, he has to send his baby brother to death.

“I feel a little rough, the guys at school aren’t very nice dad.” Rex says with a smirk before he coughs, rough and hoarse and Fox feels it in his own throat.

“Well you won’t have to deal with them much longer…” Fox says as he trails off and he pulls his helmet off, he sees the way Rex’s eyes widen in shock.

He rarely takes his helmet off when he is on duty, it’s more intimidating to civilians to appear non-human than just a 12 year old boy in a man’s body.

“You know for as much hack you give me for being blonde, you’re more of a mutant that me.” Rex grouses and Fox runs a hand through his white hair that’s much longer than regulation length, what the Kaminoans didn’t see wouldn’t hurt him.

His hair had gone shock white after getting his prosthetics installed, some said it was due to stress others said it was radiation poisoning. All he knew is that he hadn’t seen himself with brown hair in close to three years.

“You were always a mutie, I just became one later.” Fox replies as he rubs his face, he needs to shave soon, he probably looks as dishevelled as he feels.

“Has something happened? I know the Chancellor wouldn’t give you this much play time if something hadn’t happened.” Rex asks seriously, all hopefulness leaving his posture as Fox sighs.

“You’re right, the Chancellor has decided to forego your trial since the evidence is substantial enough and you are set to be executed int 2 cycles from now…I’m sorry vod’ika.” Fox says softly and he knows he won’t get any more from Rex as he turns to lie on his back, stiff as a board starring up at the blank ceiling with a distant haze in his eyes. Shock had obviously struck a chord within him.

“Thank you for telling me Commander Fox.” Rex says monotonously.

 _Commander._ He winces, it stings but he doesn’t hold it against Rex. Learning that you’re being sentenced to death for a crime you’ve claimed you didn’t commit is as physical a slap in the face is without ever being stricken.

He leaves the med bay with strict order to not let any more Senate guard into the facility, for now he has a wolf to catch.

In all his painfully short 12-almost 13 years of life Rex never thought he would have time to contemplate his death. He thought he die quick and painless with a blaster-bolt through the head or maybe in a fiery crash.

Yet death never seemed to claim him, not even the pot-shot that was two inches away from going through his heart.

Until now he guesses. Chained to medical bed like a volatile and violent criminal he sits with the information that he is going to be executed without a trial, without even a chance to defend himself. The rage he feels boils closely under his skin and he feels like a red hot stove top ready to burn anyone who would even think to look at him wrong.

He doesn’t blame Fox, he knows not to shoot the messenger but his inaction stings a little more than he would like to consider. Things had gotten a little rocky between them when he mercilessly hunted for Ahsoka, how he had refused to accept any other answer than she had mercilessly cut down troopers when she fled the GAR.

Even so, he though thing were better between them.

Even if some part doesn’t blame him for that either, his own mind had flashed back to Umbara as he looked upon the burn marks cross the white and red of the clone’s armor. The smell of burnt flesh hung heavily in that hallway as he tried to convince Fox that Ahsoka would never harm troopers even as his voice shook.

He had tried and failed to ignore the cruel laugh that rang through his own head.

Umbara changed everything about the Jedi-clone relationship in the 501st, his brothers didn’t trust a Jedi other than Skywalker and Tano and the rest of the Order feared them. Feared how easily they could kill them and the Jedi didn’t trust them enough not to do it again.

There rift between the 501st and the rest of the galaxy was tangible, even as they all fought in the same army and for the same cause. He could tell his other brothers didn’t understand their anger and unwillingness to let things fall back into the natural order of things. Rex resented them for it, yet how he wished he could simply return to thinking like did and ignore how the guilt for simply doing his job ate away at him.

_Your anger, you guilt…..it is delectable….but it is not time….not yet…._

Rex jerks in his bindings as someone ghosts a chilling breath over his face that slides down his chest like trailing fingertips. Rex tries to cringe away from them but he can’t shove himself any further into the bed even if he tired.

The room becomes icy and he can see his breath come out in panicked puffs of air, his bruised body aches and burns under the weight of the invisible presence.

As the seconds and minutes of icy silence stretch by, he finally sees it.

Bright green eyes materializes before him, they look like they’ve been ripped out of someone’s head as the optics nerves dangle and sway as the eyes move about the room. As soon as they pin him with a murderous glare, a pain so excruciating, so beyond whatever he has felt before crawls up his body inch by inch and it steals the air out of his body before he has a chance too shout in pain.

It hurts so bad he wants to throw up and he groans silently, he writhers on the bed trying to get away from the piercing gaze of the eyes. Yet the binders holding him down only allow him to move a few inches in every direction and every time he tries to squirm away the pain only gets worse.

He finally gathers enough strength to see that his skin his burning away under a green mist, leaving long curving, black lines all over his torso in an image he can’t understand. The mist slowly crawls over his abs and his chest, until it stops just below his jawline making his entire body just one painful exposed nerve.

The eyes seem to smile at their handy work on his body, Rex can only whimper and try not to move as his body continues to burn in agony.

Then as if the eyes and freezing temperature never existed the room returns to its normal state in a fraction of a second. Rex falls unconscious to the sound of medical equipment beeping and blaring angrily as he lays in a growing pool of his own blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dar'vod - basically means not brother


	7. Didn't See Coming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> un petite peu de Cody angoisse :)

Cody runs through the Temple struggling to pull on one of Kenobi’s robes, he just wanted a few hours where he could’ve put the disaster on pause to sleep for maybe at least 5 hours after pushing his body so hard in the past three days.

Obi-Wan had sensed it when he almost collapsed in the archives, he had declared that they were taking a break to eat and sleep. As much as he had protested at the time, his knee that has been slapped back together with stitches and bacta more times than he can count had popped when he stood abruptly. The sound blasted his own guilt over the loudspeaker at how he hid how his body truly felt. As if being found at the scene of a murder holding a blood covered knife.

Obi-Wan had glanced down at his horribly scarred knee once and he knew he had already lost the battle of wills against the Jedi Master. The attitude and instance were especially out of character as on occasion the man was known to stay awake for several days in a row before or after a battle. Which always meant watching over him until the man actually fell asleep. Only then could he confidently rally the trembling shinies, tucking each one into their bunks as they bounced off the walls from the adrenaline after-shocks from surviving their first battle.

They had only been asleep for a few hours, he can admit the first hour had been taken up by slowly stripping each other of their robes and armor. Squirming under the Jedi’s intense blue eyes as he slowly jerked him to completion, then watching the Jedi bite his lower lip as he took Obi-Wan into his mouth and swallowed him down, then only after that did they sleep.

He hadn’t expected a fervent Ahsoka to burst into the room in the very early hours of the morning close to tears. She stutters over her words, clearly embarrassed at seeing a nude Marshal Commander in her Grandmaster’s bed. Mortification had burned like wildfire in his veins, he’s glad the semi darkness had hidden his burning face, he almost groaned in mortification as the blanket fell off his chest and into his lap.

They probably made quite a scene, with Ahsoka in her own sleep wear while two grown men tried cover up the fact of how truly naked they were, only a few feet away. It only got worse as she explained her vision.

The future she saw was obviously coming true faster than they could follow the trail of crumbs that had been left for them. Done by someone who obviously reveled in their torment, enjoying watching them run around like decapitated nunas trying to catch up to someone who is always several steps ahead of them.

It makes him want to scream but that would show that that whoever is orchestrating this little show is getting to him, that’s the last thing they need. He knows he hasn’t been the best brother to Rex, he had seen how his baby brother had fallen so far from grace and done nothing about it. Seeing the ruin of what his body had truly become under the power of a Skywalker made him sick.

He knows the gangly Jedi is unnaturally powerful, even so those around him also seem to follow the theme of being stupidly powerful. With just wrong event, they could unabashedly turn that overwhelming power on those that could do nothing to defend against it.

It hurts more than he can say to not do anything else for his brother, to not be able and use his rank to pull him out of prison and hide him away somewhere safe until they solved the case. The Chancellor had overruled everyone with even a hint of power and he was reminded that he truly is merely a clone. While he may be the most powerful clone in the GAR, outside of his armor he is known one, he is CC-2224 and he will die as CC-2224.

CC-224 will die with the brother he swore to protect hating him because he could not sacrifice enough of himself to pull him out of the newest and deepest shit hole, he had gotten himself stuck in.

Cody could not defend his brother against the murder of a Senator that held the planet has been convinced of. The perfect crime had been set up right under their noses and his brother was taking the fall, the blame the world was throwing at him with no one to back him up.

Then, there is the probability that his brother did murder Padme Amidala in cold blood. That everything he knows about his brother had been a well-crafted lie. From the day he had found the scrawny little blonde mutie in the stark white halls of Kamino to the beat-up yet resolute captain he knows now. He would have to accept the painful and messy reality that someone he trusted to watch his back, would have the ability to murder anyone he called a friend in cold blood.

But he doesn’t think about that, he hops on a bike like a some kind of Jedi he’s so obviously is not, to speed off to the Coruscant hospital that Rex had been rushed to after being attacked in the prison med bay. Why he was in the prison med bay unsupervised in the first place he’ll never know. He knows things have been rough between him and Fox since the whole Ahsoka hunt and Temple bombing, he thought at least his batchmate would take better care of the little mutie their squad had unofficially brought into their ranks on Kamino. At least to the point of making sure Rex wasn’t constantly getting his face bashed in by Slick.

Now that is a name he never thought he would hear or even think about, the dar’vod was still hanging onto to life with a bitter tenacity that Cody never expected from the traitor. He was sure that he would’ve decided to take his own life while stuck in the one place that haunted him most. Yet, it seems he has found freedom among the scum of the galaxy.

He gets odd looks as he rushes into the hospital, he thinks the in-patients expect him to start doing force jumps and flips. Honestly, he just hope he doesn’t run into any other Jedi, it would be hard to explain as to why he had Obi-Wan’s robes wrapped haphazardly around him.

“Fox!” He shouts as he sees his brother waiting outside the entrance of the intensive care unit on the 6th floor of the hospital.

“We have a lot to discuss.” Fox says tightly and Cody almost slugs him across the face, for the first time in a while he isn’t wearing his helmet.

“You bet your damn legless ass we do, why the fuck did I get woken up at a godless hour in the night only to get a call saying how Rex has been injured within an inch of his life and his barely holding on when he was supposed to be on your watch.” Cody says angrily.

“Stow it for now scar face, we can’t talk out here anyway, c’mon Wolffe is waiting for us inside.” Fox hisses at him and Cody begrudgingly follows him.

He’s going to beg Obi-Wan to wipe his memory, walking and seeing the shredded body of his baby brother float in the bacta tank almost makes his throw up on the floor. Rex looks like he’s been put through a meet grinder and the black tattoos and that now adorn his body are definitely something he knows were never there before.

Someone or something had mutilated his brother and left him on display for all to see, he is positive of it now. The only question was who, who would have the power to do something like this. Why target a clone officer, what did they have to gain, the amount of question seems overwhelming and Cody wants to grab and rip his hair in frustration…again. His brother is dying and there is nothing he can do to help.

“We have to work quickly, Rex is set to be executed the moment he is able to consciously stand on his own two feet. Now that could be tomorrow or next week, all I know is that this whole situation is a set up.” Fox says.

“Are we sure he isn’t working with the people that attacked me and the boys on the lower levels?” Wolffe croaks, he looks worse for wear but not the worst that Cody has ever seen him.

“Positive, think it’s all a perfect crime to distract us from something else. The crime, the evidence, who they sent it knowing exactly what kind of rise it would get out of Skywalker. The fact that they had planted Rex, a close friend of Skywalker in the worst possible position. I don’t think that was ever Amidala who was murdered to begin with and I think this is going to help us more than it would collecting dust in the evidence locker.” Fox says as he pulls the knife Rex was caught with off his belt.

“Fox! Are you crazy? You could be decommissioned for this, if someone caught you snagging that they would bring you back to Kamino faster than you could say Palpatine, what were you thinking?” Wolffe demands as he jumps from his chair to try and swipe the knife out of Fox’s hands.

“I know that you ass, you forget that I am the damn Marshal Commander of the Coruscant Guard, nothing doesn’t go on this damn planet that I don’t know about. Now shut up and look at the blade and look at Rex’s skin, notice anything?” Fox snaps as he waves the blade in front of Cody’s nose.

He scowls and rips the blade out of Fox’s hand and freeze when he holds it up to Rex’s bacta tank, the markings match up perfectly. Every single detail has been engraved into his baby brother’s body with painful detail.

What’s more worrisome, that makes the blood drain from his body, is the fact that the knife and Rex’s body glow green when he brings the blade to hover just outside his tank. Rex’s is dead to the world, yet the markings glow the most vibrant green he’s ever seen.

Someone is after his brother and they’ve already deeply sunk their claws into him right under his noses, he’s failed saving his brother again from an enemy he didn’t even see coming.


	8. Not so Slick of You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! I'll probably mention this on all my fics but I've gotten a job recently so I've moved my updates to be on Thursday-Sunday and once a week instead of twice a week.

Slick sits in between Cad Bane and Boba Fett in a dimly lit interrogation room and drums his fingers on the scratched metal surface of the table as he tries to keep his temper in check. He was having such a pleasant sleep too when two clones in white, unmarked armour yanked him from his cell, slapped him in cuffs and pulled him down into the depths of the hell hole he called home.

The white of the men’s armor indicates that they’re shinnies but there’s something about how the men walk that says otherwise. No tube wet rookie would walk with such a sway to their hips. He didn’t have much time to really observe the men yanking him down the hall, before they had abruptly shoved him into the room and chained his ankles to the chair and hands to the table.

His mood had soured when they brought in the blue bastard and the entitled ankle biter. He may hate Cody and Rex and the Jedi, but it’s not like he’s going to make nice with the men that go around killing his brothers for sport.

To say it simply, it had been awkward being stuck in between them, the minutes just seem to drag on. He’s starting to think that either that guards forgot about them or are just toying with them out of their own boredom.

Even with how likely the former is, he rules boredom out of the equation. The boys in red and white have seen more action than they have in the last month with how the beloved 501st Captain snapped and murdered a Senator.

_Oh, how they mighty have fallen._

Finally, after what seems like hours, but probably is only about half of an hour, the door of their interrogation room slams opens. Slick forces himself not to tense up, he won’t show how anxious he actually feels.

“Gentlemen...” Bane drawls teasingly.

 _‘Oh, little gods can you just keep your mouth shut for five minutes.’_ Slick thinks, he isn’t in the mood to have teeth for breakfast.

The men say nothing, but the camera in the corner room suddenly shuts off and the door’s locking mechanism engages with a deafening hiss that reverberates in the confined room.

“Sorry boys, my schedule is full. I can’t film sexy jail boys tonight.” Slick says dryly and it isn’t his imagination this time that makes him feel the exasperated glare through the bucket visors.

“I would rather face my execution than ever see you naked.” Boba hisses.

“Kid, we share the same body. Our mother was the same cup that Jango jerked off into.” Slick snaps back and smirks as the kid cringes at the mental image.

“Good to see that prison hasn’t ruined you disgusting sense of humour, traitor.” One of the clones says as he pulls his bucket off, the other one sighs and rips his bucket off as well.

Cody’s gotten old since he last saw him, the stupid scar on the side of his face looks like it hasn’t healed at all. Fox on the other hand is a surprise to look at, he’s all scar tissue on one side of his face with strikingly white hair and one pale eye like what Chopper had.

_Incendiary grenade to the bucket then._

It made sense as to why the stiff bastard never took his helmet off. Even if the rumours are true and he’s enough of a stiff to through petty criminals in jail, but will bend them so he can sleep with a certain Pantoran Senator.

“Commander, nice hickey. Who was it this time? Vos or Kenobi?” Slick hisses and the other man doesn’t even flinch, he stares at him with a dull, unnerving look in his eyes.

“Are you done? We don’t have all the time in the world, we can pick others to stage a jail break.” Fox says dryly and Slick almost bites his tongue as he snaps his jaw shut.

“Now, why would you stage a jail break, Commander? You put half the men in here.” Bane drawls as he picks at his nails.

“The details don’t matter, we just need to know that you can get Captain Rex out of the prison and off planet if given the chance. If not, we can move onto somebody else.” Cody says sternly and Slick feels a smile crawl over his face.

“Oh, but Commander, that sounds treasonous. Allowing three dangerous criminals out into the galaxy just to save a doomed clone sounds like you’re letting your emotions cloud your judgment.” Slick says innocently and Cody scowls.

“I didn’t come here for you to question my motivation. I just came here to get a simple answer, if you can stage a jail break and get off planet without out killing any clones, we will have you labelled as KIA in the system.” Fox says and Slick’s eyes widen.

“Sounds like you’re giving us get out jail free cards, you sure your little Captain is worth all this trouble.” Boba asks stonily.

“This is much bigger than Rex, now do we have a deal?” Cody replies matching Boba’s tone.

Slick looks between Boba and Bane, he realizes that it could be worse.

“We have a deal.” Slick says as he nods to the two Commanders.

“You will tell no one about this and if any of the men are killed during your escape, consider your pardon vetoed, if you walk back on this deal I can promise that I will hunt down each one of you and personally put a bolt in between in your eyes.” Cody says darkly and Slick just smirks at him.

“The boys will be by soon to take you back to your cells, play nice for them. I don’t need you to terrorize my shinies anymore than your faces already do.” Fox snaps, he and Cody slap their buckets back on and the camera reboots, resuming it’s surveillance as they leave the room.

Well, what a turn of events this has been.

* * *

“Ahsoka…?” Rex asks as he blinks his eyes to adjust after awareness slowly returns to his body, his voice cracks slightly against the dryness in his throat.

The woman in question is curled up a chair next to him, her lekku, that had only barely reached her shoulders a few years ago had grown long in the time that she had matured. The almost waist long fleshy headtails are now curled around her neck like a scarf as she dozes in the uncomfortable looking piece of furniture next to his bed.

She would be sore for sure once she woke and had to use her body again.

It still didn’t make sense as to why she is here, another question is where even is here? He’s getting sick and tired of having no idea where he is after waking up, having to sift through the pain and hazy memories to figure out where he had been moved.

He thinks all med bays should have big signs over beds that tell a person how they got hurt and where they were. That would be convenient considering how much time in his short life he has woken up in the med bay after a battle.

He’s chained down to the bed again, meaning he’s not in a prison facility anymore, but he’s still a prisoner. He likes to think that maybe the past week has only been one continuous nightmare, that maybe he’s touched a poisonous plant that causes vivid hallucinations on an outer rim campaign.

But alas, that just isn’t his reality. It’s just his luck that a witch or someone who has a vast power in dark magic, chose him to be the scapegoat in whatever grand scheme she and her minions have planned out.

He can’t mope too much about how his life is in shambles, he has a job to do. Padmé is out there somewhere and like him she’s in obvious danger and he needs to get to her before time truly does run out.

That is if he can ever get off the gods forsaken planet with the odds so stacked against him. He can see the swirling black tattoos that cover his body. They look like vines or even snakes, he can’t tell but he certainly didn’t go the prison tattoo shop to get the designs carved into his body.

“Rex…? How are you feeling?” Ahsoka asks softly as she rubs her eyes and stretches out her arms and legs.

“Beat up, what happened?” Rex asks and Ahsoka pins him with a sad frown.

“You tell me, the GAR doctors told me that you tried to kill yourself. They had transport you to the Coruscant hospital because the bleeding was too bad to handle in the prison med bay.” Ahsoka says, she folds her arms and turns away too look out the window that let in the first glimmers of early morning light.

“Ahsoka I didn’t try to kill myself I was attacked! Look at me! I’ve never had a single tattoo in my life and now they’re all over me. You know me, after all I’ve been through you think I’m just going to quit and die as a murderer? Padmé needs our help, she’s out there and something is after her, but everyone has already labelled my as a traitor, I’m being written off when there’s obviously something much bigger going on.” Rex says, he knows he’s close to shouting at one of his closest friends, but he can’t help it, the distrust stings more than he can say.

Ahsoka turns suddenly and pushes him down so his back is flat to the bed as she straddles his hips, she looks furious as she leans over him with her hand over his mouth.

He decidedly stays silent as she scowls down at him, he remains stiff as a bored until she slowly removes her hand and plants both hands on his chest instead.

He really hopes no one walks into his room and sees them like this, it would be hard to explain their way out of it.

“Rex, listen. You have allies, trust me. We have your back as much as we can without creating too much of a scene. We have a plan to get you out of jail, you’re not going to like it, but we have a team on the inside to get you off planet. You’re going to have to trust them, we’ll be right behind you.” Ahsoka whispers into his ear, he tries his best not to shiver.

“If I won’t like it then it must be especially stupid or reckless.” Rex says with a huff.

“Not more than the usual, we need to get to the bottom of this for Padmé and for Anakin, if there’s going to be anything left of him once this is all done.” Ahsoka says mirthlessly.

“Okay, okay. I’ll trust whoever if busting me out of jail…I’ll see you on the other side?” Rex asks as Ahsoka pulls her head back slightly too look into his eyes.

“Of course, until then K'oyacyi. You better stay alive until we can reach you Rex.” Ahsoka says surprising Rex into silence with her use of the word. He didn’t know she Mand’o so well. She presses a kiss to his temple and slips off the bed and out of the room without another word.

“Oya, Commander.” He mumbles as he lays back and contemplates all he has been told.


	9. Who Do You Love?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie this chapter is a little dark, a slight warning for graphic hallucinations and general darkside Anakin.

It’s easy, pathetically so to get a young initiate to come over and unlock the barrier keeping him in. He attracted the young Jedi like a curious moth to a burning flame. The great Anakin Skywalker, nothing but a ferocious beast as he paces the cage he’s been locked in just because he’s indulged in who he’s always been. Obi-Wan should’ve realized that he was going to stop playing the games the Council wanted him to eventually.

The fragile and tiny Kel Dor wants to prove her worth so badly, prove she is ready to be taken on as a padawan, she feels it so strongly it grates along his nerves. He merely crushes the force supressing collar around his neck into bits under the force of his prosthetic hand. He was able to modify with the utensils they gave him. They were foolish in their naivety to trust him, they thought that since he couldn’t use the force that he isn’t a threat to anyone. That everything that made him a threat merely came from the Force and his Jedi training.

He debates killing the young girl, it would be easy, she barely comes up his hip and he could rip her breathing mask off, she would be dead within minutes, he would be long gone by the time a guard would find her body. He reaches out and she sparks with pride. She probably thinks he’s going to pat her on the head and say what a great Jedi she will be when she grows big and strong like him, so she should practice her katas and read her lessons.

He hesitates, (he hates himself for it). Padmé adored children, _he_ loved children, he counted down the days until he would see his children be brought into the world. They spent endless hours talking about them, what they would be like, if they would be force sensitive, all the things they would do.

He would finally have the family he’s yearned for ever since he left his own mother to die on Tatooine, to have a child of his own that he could love without worrying about breaking any rules. Ahsoka is the only person that he has come close to being someone he could raise, to care for and be cared for.

He thought maybe, just maybe he had that same bond with Rex, but again, as his life has dictated, it has just been one burning heartbreak after another. Only this time, he would have the revenge he so rightly deserved and he isn’t going to hide it away like a great shame. He would celebrate killing the clone captain, show his bloody body from the rooftops to show that no one would ever take anything away from him ever again. He gently places his hand on her shoulder and her small round face crinkles in a smile. It is a shame knowing that she would be one of the many Jedi that he will have to kill when they try to bring him down once the Jedi council fills her head with lies and hypocrisy. He knows he cannot stay within the order, they despise him and they should. They envy his power, fear his strength he was never welcome here within the order, they shunned him from the day Qui-Gon had delivered him as the chosen one.

The chosen one, oh how he despised that title, chosen for what? A life of loneliness and isolation? Padmé was the only woman that understood his need for a family, now she was gone, murdered by a man he called a _brother_.

He would make the clone suffer.

Even if it takes a lifetime he will make sure the clone dies a slow painful death like Padmé and his children had. He only focuses on his rage to fuel him, he doesn’t let the sadness creep in, the hate and rage makes him stronger, stronger than he’s ever felt. He doesn’t have time to let his own weak pathetic feelings drag him down, there will be time to mourn later, once he’s had his revenge.

He sends the little Kel Dor off with a wave of his hand, if she doesn’t remember anything from their encounter than he isn’t going to be the one to come forward about wiping her memories. He’s tempted to grab his lightsaber, but he knows Obi-Wan has It or it’s locked in the vault, he has no conflict with his Master, yet. He’d rather not kill the man right away, he has to bide his time, plan his moves even as his anger urges him forwards.

He's not an idiot, he knows that the Jedi will jump on him the moment he shows his face outside their dungeon like prison. The force will be enough to snap the clone’s neck, we won’t need a blade to kill a simple soldier. He could make another blade, he would find the bright blue obnoxious anyway. He needs something…a little more _fitting_.

_Anakin…. Anakin…Please…He’s killing me!_

“Padmé? Padmé? Where are you? Anakin asks desperately as his wife’s voice floats down the dark hall as he runs deeper and deeper into the bowels of the ancient temple.

She hears her scream, like nails on a chalkboard, it’s agonizing. It’s worse than enduring force lightning, the way her cries and sobs pierce his bones is worse than any torture he’s ever had to bear.

The hallways blur from tears that he refuses to acknowledge, it’s his mother all over again. How he had left her only to be plagued by the visons of her crying in agony as the Tuskan raiders killed her.

_Where are you!...Anakin….Please don’t leave me…_

“I won’t I promise!” He shouts as he jumps through the opening of one of the many drainage pipes, not unlike the ones he had chased Ahsoka through as she suffered from another one of his failures as her protector, as her teacher.

Padmé’s sobs only get louder the deeper he runs, he knows she’s dead, he saw her body covered in blood, slashed with that vile knife as his Captain tried to deflect the blame. He knows, but some part of him deep down, or even just on the surface level of his heart desperately hopes that she is still alive. For just once in his life he wants to make it in time, too be there and do what he’s promised but has never fulfilled.

He skids around another dark corner and sees her, just as beautiful as she always was. Her hair is down and gently falls around her shoulders, entwined with beautiful flowers. She never had her hair down but on the rare occasions that she did, he swears she looks like the angle he had always dreamed of her to be.

Her stomach is flat as he rushes to embrace her, she even smells like the perfume she wore earlier _that_ morning.

“Padmé, I am so sorry, I should’ve been there with you.” Anakin says into her hair.

“Shhhh Anakin, it’s going to be okay. You can finally see your children.” Padmé whispers and he sobs into her shoulder, _something is different about her voice_ , his mind whispers but he shoves the thoughts away

He pulls back and he can see she’s holding two bundles, how he never noticed them until now he doesn’t know.

He pulls back the cloth swaddling to reveal two lively babies, a blonde boy and brown-haired girl.

“They’re beautiful…” He whispers.

“They would’ve have been amazing….” Padmé says hoarsely, her voice rough and dry like the air on Mustafar.

“What...?” Anakin asks as he looks up at her wife only to see her lifeless face, covered in blood and eyes dull as she smiles at him.

The babies dissolve into nothing, dripping into black sludge and leaking in between his fingers. He screams and falls to his knees scrambling to gather the black sludge before it drains into the undercity below.

He looks up to his giggling wife only to see Rex come up behind her and raise the blade in his hand.

 ** _“No! Don’t!”_** He screams to no avail, the clone doesn’t listen to him and he plunges the blade into her chest. He throws the man back into a wall and he hits it with a sickening crunch of bone shattering into a million unsalvageable pieces before he slumps to the ground.

Like his children Padme also dissolves into nothing but black sludge that also drains away leaving him alone in the dark tunnels. He squeezes his eye shut and lets out a pained whine, sounding like an akk dog begging to be put down.

Again, even with a second chance to save his wife and children he failed, he is alone. When he opens his eyes a man with yellow and red burning eyes stares back at him in the reflection of the black puddles he kneels in.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you guys think! It's a bit darker than my usual stuff but I wanted to try something new!


End file.
